Set in a state-run mental institution and, at times, in the minds of the patients, Asylum explores the flip side of sanity. We meet a former pop star who continues to live like she's in a music video, a girl who was harmed by her best friend's boyfriend, a young man who does operations on stuffed animals and himself, a woman who believes she's in the 11th month of a pregnancy, a dessert-obsessed man with a Barbie voodoo doll, a lost boy who just wants to go home, and others. Through a tapestry of monologues that range from off-the-wall to terrifying, the characters search for their refuge, their shelter, their sanctuary...their home.
Poe-Dunked
Twelve short scenes depict events in the life of Edgar Allan Poe -- or how his life might have been in today's world! Some of the more popular tales are represented: "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a police investigation; "The Cask of Amontillado" is a Jerry Springer-type TV show; and "The Masque of the Red Death" has a group of Hollywood types hiding out in a castle. In "The Fall of the House of Usher" Poe himself pitches the story to a producer for a horror film. Other scenes depict Poe as he might have been in elementary school; seeing a psychiatrist; trying to write "The Raven"; being rejected by a careless editor and working in a fast-food restaurant. This farce accurately reflects some of the events in Poe's tragic life, yet is fast-paced and wildly entertaining.