Synopsis: This new box set celebrates the 60th anniversary of the beloved gothic show, Dark Shadows. Dark Shadows: Return to Collinwood & Vengeance at Collinwood, collects two rare full-cast productions together for the very first time.
“Return to Collinwood” was originally performed as a stage play during the 2003 Dark Shadows Festival. It was subsequently recorded as a full-cast audio drama.
Its follow-up, “Vengeance at Collinwood,” debuted live at the 2005 festival in Hollywood. However, it has never before received an official release.
Additionally, listeners get an absolutely marvelous bonus disc. The late Jonathan Frid performs dramatic readings of two spooky tales.
First, he performs “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe. Then, he finds a different tone with “The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall” by John Kendrick Bangs.
Finally, listeners get two Frid interviews on the Ron Barry Show. They originally aired NBC Radio in 1968.
Review: Written by Jamison Selby and Jim Pierson, the plays were completely new to me. Both were unabashed love letters to the show.
Story
“Return to Collinwood” and “Vengeance at Collinwood” both capitalized on the tropes being tropes. The plot points were all joyfully telegraphed for die hard fans.
Indeed, both plays were built around the same plot device. The familiar mechanics left room for the actors to focus on their performances.
“Return to Collinwood” was the more somber of the two plays. I adored all the scenes in which the Collins family dealt with the death of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard.
I also really appreciated how the characters were allowed to evolve. Growth can be hard to convey when tropes require a certain amount of stasis.
Growth was most evident in Carolyn, Maggie, and Willie. Internal logic collided with newly found agency in extremely satisfying ways.
I enjoyed how Barnabas was integrated into both plays. The writers deftly turned Frid’s absence to their advantage.
If I had to choose a favorite, though, “Vengeance at Collinwood” had the edge. As a live production, performers and listeners benefitted from the audience reactions.
As for the bonus material, Frid’s dramatic readings were perfection. However, the two radio interviews were a different level.
I loved how Ron Barry was a complete fan boy. I also found Frid’s reaction to fame and fandom nuanced and bitter sweet.
Acting
The entire cast was wonderful. The plays worked, because they all obviously loved the show and their audience.
Overall
Thank you, Big Finish. Dark Shadows: Return to Collinwood / Vengeance at Collinwood (60th Anniversary Special) was everything a commemorative box set needed to be.
You can purchase Dark Shadows: Return to Collinwood / Vengeance at Collinwood (60th Anniversary Special) here.
- Story10
- Performances10
- Audio Production10
Raissa quick question; is Sherlock Holmes gothic literature? My mum and I had a phone conversation today where I mentioned that Edgar Allan Poe’s story The Murders in the Rue Morgue inspired Sherlock Holmes. And my mum asked if Holmes was gothic literature? I suggested he wasn’t because to the best of my knowledge gothic stories end unhappily; and Sherlock often solved the mystery and managed to help someone. But I just wondered what you thought? (I get that question wasn’t very quick also)
No worries. Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes The Hound of the Baskervilles is considered one of the greatest Gothic novels ever written. His other Holmes stories are Gothic adjacent, bur not officially Gothic. Gothic isn’t simply about emotion, but about setting atmosphere too. Conan Doyle wrote other non Holmes stories that were definitely Gothic — The Captain and the Pole Star and Lot 249 among them. Polestar is a ghost story. Lot 249 is a mummy story.
I think Mark Gatiss did a dramatization of Lot 249 a couple of Christmas’s back. Dom, if your curious it might be worth you searching I Player to see if its still on there. Also Conan Doyle write the Lost World book stories, which are among my favorites. I mean Victorian explorers finding dinosaurs on a mysterious island. What’s not to love.
Muchas gracias amigos 😎