The University of Lethbridge props and costume mavens had a bloody good time designing costumes, props and special effects for “A Night at the Grand Guignol: 2022” the last University of Lethbridge main stage production of the year, which runs April 22 and 23 in University Theatre.

The show is a tribute to the renown Grand Guignol theatre in the Pigalle district of Paris, which featured horror plays from 1897-1962.
It features three shor blood tingling horror thrillers featuring 15 actors, described as a “horallity (a mix of horror and hilarity) by Mia van Leeuan, one of the directors.
Despite the strike at the U of L, which caused a month’s delay in the production and meant minimal contact wth the actors and directors, MFA students Carla Simon and Jaime Johnson had a lot of fun creating elaborate costumes and props for the production.

It features The Lighthouse Keepers by Paul Autier and Paul Cloquemin, translated by Justin A Blum and directed by Jay Whitehead; The Masque of Red Death, an adaptive theatre piece based on Edgar Allen Poe’s story, created by Mia van Leeuwen and the cast; and a staged reading of Jean Aragny and Francis Neilson’s “ The Kiss of Blood.”
Prop and costume designer Carla Simon noted “ A Kiss of Blood,” is more than just a staged reading.
“It’s hot and cold. It’s a melodrama, but more over the top and extreme,” she said.
“It’s like the Evil Dead 2,” described Quinn Larder, who plays the emcee who guides the audience through all three short plays, dressed in an Alice Cooper inspired tux and and top hat costume designed by Jaime Johnson.
“ He’s as if Cryptkeeper and Alice Cooper and Willy Wonka had a kid. There’s a lot of gore and blood. He’ll ask for audience responses like “eews” and “gross,” Larder described.
“ It’s just really weird,” he said.
Johnson took a lot of inspiration form Alice Cooper’s stage show, which has always been very theatrical.