REVIEW: Comedy-horror hybrid Dead Broke successfully spooks

Do you ever wish Halloween could last forever?

Though we’re into November now, Lost Dreams Collective’s Dead Broke keeps the spooky spirit alive in its rag-tag comedy horror, which runs until November 10th. Starting as a 2022 Fringe hit and Toronto Star “Top Pick,” this show has been resurrected with both returning cast members and fresh faces. 

After a night with his parents, wannabe musician Oliver (Will King, also the playwright) becomes a squatter in an abandoned house with no lights and no water, but at least the rent is free. This is all to stay in the city he can’t afford with his girlfriend Charlotte (Kiera Publicover), who is decidedly against the creepy house. She invites all of their friends over for a house party so they can talk some sense into him. This classic horror trope includes a host of wacky characters, from a classic mean girl (Diana Del Rosario) to a drug dealer (Gordon Harper) and his client (Claire Shenstone-Harris), who he’s clearly in love with. Chaos ensues. 

Dead Broke does something I consider to be somewhat difficult to pull off in the theatre: It successfully spooks. A solid concept from King, combined with some creative choices by director Calvin Petersen, creates delightfully cheesy yet haunting horror. Creepy chanting that escalates into guttural screaming, clever jump scares, and even a good old-fashioned “I’ll be right back” exit to a dusty basement create a hair-raising atmosphere. 

The Theatre Centre’s intimate BMO Incubator has been transformed into an old abandoned house by an abundance of white sheets that hang from the overhead lighting grid. This set design by Julia Kim is crafty and quite effective, not only at providing a spine-tingling, tossed-together feel, but also at helping with the logistics of the actual horror. The actors push and pull the sheets away and towards the audience for ghostly apparitions. 

Chin Palipane’s lighting further accentuates the eerie tone, using reds and flashing lights to create unsettling visuals, and at moments plunging the whole theatre into nerve-wracking darkness. Nate Bitton’s fight direction definitely made me flinch once or twice, as delightfully violent and strange things began to unfold onstage. 

All that said, the non-supernatural scenes leading up to the play’s main action are a little lackluster. There’s a drought of chemistry between the central couple, little to no blocking, and a few transitions are clunky and long. The actors also seem a little too old to be playing college-aged students, but hey, if Riverdale can do it, why not Toronto theatre? 

The concept for King’s script is punchy and successfully scary, but at moments feels bloated. With a lot of filler and exposition at the beginning of the script, I was left craving more scares and spookiness by its end. Billed at an approximate 75 minutes (and pushing 90 minutes when I saw it), I get the sense that perhaps this may have worked better in its previous iteration as a short, snappy Fringe show.  

Several performances keep this show grounded despite its directorial and script challenges. Harper as the love-sick puppy drug dealer provides delightful comedic relief and a host of believable scary moments. But all in all, Shenstone-Harris steals the spotlight in a deliciously chilling performance that genuinely made me a little scared to be in the same room as her.

While the non-horror aspects of the show lean towards the more amateur, the scares are incredibly successful. This show pulls off the theatrical horror with seeming ease: That’s reason enough to check it out for yourself. (Pro tip: If you want to experience maximum fright, I’d recommend sitting in the front row of house left.)

Dead Broke plays at the Theatre Centre through November 10. Tickets are available here. 

Intermission reviews are independent and unrelated to Intermission’s partnered content. Learn more about Intermission’s partnership model here.

WRITTEN BY

Andrea Perez

Andrea Perez is an interdisciplinary theatre artist who enjoys acting, writing, directing, and producing. She is an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto studying Drama, Classical Civilizations, and Creative Writing, exploring storytelling and people in their many facets. She is a member of the 2023 cohort of the IBPOC Critics Lab, supported by Intermission Magazine and the Stratford Festival.

LEARN MORE