13 Dead Dreams of Eugene NYC Reviews and Tickets

73%

(20 Reviews)

Positive

70%

Mixed

20%

Negative

10%

Members say

Clever, Quirky, Great singing, Absorbing, Entertaining

About the Show

This two-person shadow-puppet play with songs revolves around a bizarre true story of Midwestern town who blames a spate of nightmares on the unidentified corpse the town displayed for decades.

Member Reviews (20)

Strong performers, Mediocre material, Imaginative piece, Overlong at 60 mins, Irritating lights

See it if wacky, creative Fringe piece. Highly atmospheric, but gets stale. Both performers can sing/act. A step-up from campfire ghost stories.

Don't see it if you want a polished, coherent experience. Visuals were not great. The dreams are, eventually, annoying. Underlying real story fascinates.

Ambitious, Clever, Disappointing, Slow, Anti-climactic

See it if You’re intrigued by shadow puppets and projections used to tell a story.

Don't see it if You hope for the story to be very exciting. In the total darkness it felt a lot like a bedtime story and it was hard to stay awake.

Clever, Dizzying, Quirky, Great singing

See it if Show is in the dark with flashlight and shadow on white screen, with sound efforts. Singing and tell story.

Don't see it if Want a high production. This is in a small theater.(seats are comfortable) Read more

Entertaining, Great writing, Thought-provoking, Riveting, Quirky

See it if you like hearing ghost stories and truly haunting conceptions of the afterlife. Literary—some wonderfully chilling writing.

Don't see it if you’re judging the scare factor by film standards. Jump-out-of-your-chair terror is hard to come by in live theater. Read more

Eerie, Quirky, Inventive, Resourceful, Great ending

See it if You enjoy other musical mystery/horror/ghost stories like Whisper House, Nevermore, Sweeney. Want to see some great inventive direction.

Don't see it if You dislike pieces that are made up of vignettes that do not all move the story forward. Read more

Clever, Shadowplay, Home-made

See it if you like camp-fire stories. Interesting shadowplay. The ending wrapped up the show very nicely.

Don't see it if you want a polished show - remember this is part of Fringe. The actors told us the props were home-made. You don't like the dark. Read more

Unique artistry / deeply committed performers, Dizzying / homey shadow-puppetry / quirky, Unexpectedly nice singing & guitar-playing, Clever / in-the-dark camp-fire fun / creative

See it if you enjoy based-on-true-events campfire ghost stories, & are ok sitting in the dark (mostly), except for minimal lighting from the stage.

Don't see it if you expect an extremely polished performance. Here, homemade "arts & crafts" are used to create an interesting hr of creepy story-telling. Read more

Interesting premise, "fringey", Has moments, Not scary at all

See it if you are an adventurous theater-goer and are willing to take a chance on new & unique performances; like mildly 'spooky' stories

Don't see it if you expect a polished,cohesive play; don't like over-wrought folky, "story-telling" singing; can't forgive some low-budget fumbling onstage Read more

Critic Reviews (3)

"Freaky, weird, macabre, lurid, grisly, morbid, ghoulish and ghostly. What a tale they tell!...If 'puppets' is a scary word to you, it’s not a puppet show, don’t be afraid of that. Be afraid of the story they have to share with you. Be very afraid...The threads are all interwoven with lights and shadow, music, song, sound effects and superb storytelling. You will come out of the theater wide awake and worrying about your next night’s sleep."
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For a previous production

“A dandy little ghost story. Strickland and MacDonald, Fringe vets and ace storytellers, use song, puppetry and light — such clever use of light — to set the creepy mood...The opening sequence that lays out the story doesn’t have quite the right tone...But stick with this, and let the fear grow as the dreams go by...There was not a peep during this spellbinding performance — even when all the lights went out.”
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For a previous production

“The show is not really about the 13 stories...Each isn’t a full narrative but is instead either a musical interlude, an absurdist dream or nightmare...A couple of them are quite well-developed and truly chilling...But it’s the linking story that’s the best part...Not only did MacDonald and Strickland create this show...but they do just about everything themselves, from singing to narrating to executing the wizard-like shadow and flashlight effects with precision. Their artistry will haunt you.”
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