Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death is a story that definitely resonates from its original published date in 1842 right to the present day. It’s been given a makeover with a difference by Toronto multi-hyphenate artist Saint Stella for a new show that will take the stage April 5 to 12.
Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death is a short story that details the attempts of Prince Prospero and his wealthy friends to hide from a deadly plague known as the Red Death. As they take shelter in Prospero’s abbey, they host a masquerade ball which stretches across seven rooms. Each of the seven rooms is decorated a different colours. As they party the night away, a figure cloaked in mystery, disguised as a victim of the feared plague, makes his way through each of the rooms, leaving a trail of death in his wake.
Saint Stella: The Interview
Stella Kulagowski, AKA Saint Stella, is a fixture and an award-winning performer in Toronto’s lively burlesque scene, and a performer, producer, creator and movement teacher. Stella has produced sold out productions at the Toronto Fringe Festival, including Lysistrata (2017), Carmilla (2018) and Mayhem at Miskatonic (2019), along with producing, choreographing, and performing in Ill Met by Moonlight, a ‘Shakesqueer’ adaptation. They received an emerging queer artist award from Buddies in Bad times in 2020 and a Community One Rainbow Grant in 2024.
The play’s premise, and a reality TV show, is what initially sparked the idea.
“I started sort of thinking about doing this play during the pandemic,” Stella begins, “when we were all isolating, and terrified. The pandemic shone a spotlight on the growing wealth discrepancies in our society. It’s no longer about rich and poor, it’s about living different existences.
It was a video they saw of the Kardashians holding a party during the pandemic lockdowns that stuck with her, and the image of the uber-wealthy as an aristocratic class that is completely disconnected from the realities that most of us live with.
“I don’t think that we really look up to these people anymore.”
A Cabaret Of Virtues
The music consists of both original songs and covers, covers a wide variety of genres, and is an integral part of the story.
“The show takes place, three-quarters of it, at a cabaret in the compound,” she says. There, seven different performers will take the stage, each with their own act to present from break dancing to burlesque.
The cast includes:
- Stella Kulagowski (she/they): Writer, Director, Performer, “Creation”
- Parham Rownaghi (he/him): The Founder “Darius”
- Rachel Manson (she/her): The Docent “Ariadne”
- Eli Holliday (they/them): “Love”
- Nailah Renuka (she/they): “Tolerance”
- Rennaldo Quinicot (he/him): “Pride”
- Rosalind Saunders (she/her): “Joy”
- Joy Thompson (she/her): “Community”
- Bryna Bella (she/they): “Generosity”
Each of the seven performers chose their own piece. As preparation, Stella compiled a kind of song list that served as inspiration for the collaborative process.
This is where the story takes a turn from the original, which offers only death and destruction for the partygoers. In Poe’s story, the seven rooms broadly represent the Seven Deadly Sins.
“Each of the characters represent a queer virtue,” Stella explains. The Seven Deadly Sins are turned into the virtues represented in the original Pride flag: Community, Joy, Generosity, Love, and Creation. Pride becomes dignity.
Toronto singer/songwriter/producer Yahenda produced the ambient music that plays during the show.
The story includes a narrator, and a docent, someone who is a kind of personal assistant to the narrator. There’s a bit of ambiguity incorporated into the story about whether or not the assistant is as guilty of degenerate skullduggery as the rich spectators. That’s where the audience comes into play.
“I like the audience to feel participatory,” they explain.
In the end, the audience votes on their guilt or innocence, and determines their fate in the story. The show has been written with two possible endings, depending on the audience’s verdict.
“I’m doing that character, and my act is about environmental degradation,” Stella says. “It’s been a really interesting process. Considering what’s going on the news…” In fact, they report that the daily news has resulted in a multitude of small changes to the material as relevant situations unfold in real life.
“You don’t want it to happen, but boy is it fodder for art. Keen eyes and ears will see things that are very current,” Stella adds. “I could scream into the wind, or I can make art about it.”
Red Death is a contrast to Saint Stella’s usual work, which she describes as typically “light and joyful”. Although the story has been turned away from vices to virtues, its message is still about society and its inequities.
“I hope that people leave with […] the cathartic thing, but also […] there is no good answer,” they say, mentioning the recent murder of a US health insurance executive. “Are we resorting to murder? Is that how bad it’s gotten?” Stella wonders.
“This is not a good place we’ve arrived.”
- Find more details and tickets to the show at The Assembly Theatre [HERE].
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