Halloween is just around the corner, so this week’s recommendations are taking a spooky turn.
At the Grand Theatre, Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors puts a campy, laugh-out-loud spin on Bram Stoker’s famous Count. Meanwhile, over at the Benz Gallery, Scared Stiff proves that horror, nostalgia and fine art make good gallery mates.
I also caught up with artist and gallery owner Greg Benz to talk about the annual exhibition, and his vision for supporting contemporary art in London.
The Loon Recommends for Oct. 22 - 28:
Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors at the Grand Theatre
Scared Stiff Exhibition at The Benz Gallery
Count on a Good Time - Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors
October 20 - November 7 | Grand Theatre | Tickets from $25 per ticket
Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors takes Bram Stoker’s classic tale and gleefully turns it on its head. This new production is fast, campy and unapologetically silly, with five actors juggling a multitude of characters, making for lightning-fast costume changes.
Director Krista Jackson says audiences who know the original story should have plenty of fun with what the production does to it.
“It plays with the novel, and it subverts the novel. It’s loosely based on the novel, so folks that come and know it will have some fun with how it’s adapted. It’s camp.”
And just how camp? Jackson says the creative team pulled from a wonderfully eclectic mix of pop culture.
“We pulled from a lot of pop culture, like Dracula and Scooby-Doo and What We Do in the Shadows. Those were all great influences, as well as Young Frankenstein. So Mel Brooks is in there, too, and a little bit of Monty Python. So there’s some fun, recognizable pop culture in the show.”
Grand Theatre Artistic Director Rachel Peake says the company fell for the script early in the process.
“This script I particularly loved when I was looking at it. We actually started this one quite early because we all sort of fell in love with it. It has that beautiful, big, bold humour that audiences in London here really love.”
And speaking of big, bold humour - Grand audiences who enjoyed last year’s Clue will recognize Jesse Gervais as Dracula. Gervais played Wadsworth, the butler who managed to die a memorable number of times on stage.
The rest of the cast includes Reena Jolly and Nora McLellan, alongside Grand newcomers Nathan Howe and Constant Bernard. And while the show has been performed elsewhere, everything audiences see on the Spriet Stage has been designed for the Grand and built right here in London.
Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing the show!
Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors runs October 20 to November 7 on the Spriet Stage. The show runs 90 minutes with no intermission.
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Art That Goes Bump in the Night
October 9 - October 31 | Benz Gallery | 1038 Adelaide St. North | FREE
Now in its sixth year, the Benz Gallery’s annual Halloween exhibition, Scared Stiff, brings together Canadian artists working across painting, sculpture, limited-edition screen prints and movie posters, all exploring the scary, eerie, strange and occasionally unsettling side of art.
And clearly Londoners are into it. This year’s opening drew a packed crowd, and a walk through the gallery reveals plenty of red dots marking works that have already found new homes.
Gallery owner Greg Benz, a longtime horror fan and collector himself, says part of the show’s appeal may be the nostalgia surrounding horror movies and pop culture. But Scared Stiff also makes a convincing case that darker subject matter deserves a place on gallery walls.
Whether you’re a serious collector, a horror fanatic or just looking for something suitably spooky to do before Halloween, there’s plenty here to sink your teeth into.
🎃 Scared Stiff continues at Benz Gallery until Halloween
Beyond the Gallery Walls - An Interview With Greg Benz
Artist and gallery owner Greg Benz has spent years on both sides of the gallery relationship. A practising artist himself, he opened Benz Gallery in a space with deep roots in London’s art scene.
The space is the former home of the Thielsen Gallery (the first privately run gallery in London), and like its predecessor, the Benz Gallery focuses on contemporary Canadian art and spotlights emerging artists.
The gallery’s walls are usually filled with landscapes, abstract work, ceramics and sculpture, but every October, Benz indulges another of his passions - horror, with the current Scared Stiff show.
With this year’s exhibition underway, I caught up with Benz to talk about the show, his experience as an artist, the relationships he’s built with the artists he represents, and his vision for the gallery and its place in London’s arts community.
1) This is the sixth year for Scared Stiff. How did the show originally come about,
and did you ever imagine it would become an annual tradition?
I’ve been a horror fan since high school, reading Stephen King and Clive Barker and watching horror movies. Over the years, I’ve also become a passionate collector of movie memorabilia, film posters, pinball machines, and darker original artwork. Eventually, I thought it would be fun to bring those interests together, so I reached out to a few people I knew who worked in this genre and decided to take a stab at putting a show together.
We had a fantastic audience for the work right from the first year, which was really encouraging. From there, we’ve continued to build on that success and grow the show a little more each year.
Now, heading into our sixth year, it’s exciting to see how much it’s developed. I’m not sure I ever imagined it would become an annual tradition, but it’s been great to watch it evolve and see people come back year after year.
2) Benz Gallery is probably better known for contemporary Canadian landscapes, abstract work, ceramics and sculpture. What does Scared Stiff allow you to do as a curator that’s different from the rest of the year?
Yes, our main focus at Benz Gallery is contemporary Canadian art, which we showcase year-round. But Scared Stiff gives us the opportunity to shine a spotlight on another side of the Canadian art scene and introduce people to artists who make a living creating darker, more unconventional work.
The movie poster artists are a great example. Many of them are commissioned by major film studios to create their own interpretations of classic movie posters, which are then hand screen-printed in limited-edition runs. It’s a fascinating art form, and one that deserves to be seen and appreciated by a wider audience.
It’s also a lot of fun to challenge our regular roster of artists to step outside their comfort zones and create work specifically for the show that they might not normally explore.
That’s one of the things I love most about Scared Stiff. It gives us the freedom to experiment, bring different creative communities together, and showcase a completely different side of the artists we work with.
3) This year’s show brings together artists from across Canada and includes everything from original artwork and sculpture to limited-edition prints. How do you choose the artists and pieces that make it into the exhibition?
Most of the artists in the exhibition are artists we represent year-round at Benz Gallery, but for Scared Stiff, they get the opportunity to explore a darker side of their practice and create work they might not typically show in the gallery.
I also work closely with Sarah Legault, who has been instrumental in helping grow the show by introducing us to a number of artists from her Shadow Woods collective. That collaboration has brought some fantastic additions to the exhibition, including the movie poster artists, sculptural works, and some really exciting original talent.
For me, it’s about bringing together a mix of artists and mediums that work well together, while making sure there’s something unexpected for people to discover.
We want the exhibition to feel cohesive, but also showcase the incredible diversity of talent working in this darker genre.
4) You mentioned that the opening night for the show was crazy busy and I saw a lot of red stickers beside pieces - meaning much of the work has sold. Obviously the response to this year’s show has been really strong.
What do you think has made Scared Stiff resonate so much with people? Is there an audience for this kind of art that traditional galleries sometimes overlook?
I definitely believe there’s an audience for this kind of art that traditional galleries might sometimes overlook. Through the various collecting hobbies I’m involved in, I’ve noticed a huge resurgence of nostalgia, particularly among people looking to reconnect with the movies, imagery, and pop culture they grew up with.
There’s a real appetite for collecting pieces that bring back those memories, and I think the success of Scared Stiff reflects some of that.
My focus with this show has always been to present high-calibre, gallery-quality artwork that might not otherwise get the attention or recognition it deserves.
Just because the subject matter is darker, or draws from horror and pop culture, doesn’t make it any less deserving of being treated as fine art.
I think people are excited to discover work that connects with their personal interests and memories while also being something they can appreciate and collect as original art.
5) You’re an artist yourself as well as a gallery owner and curator. How does being a working artist influence the way you run the gallery and your relationships with the artists you represent?
Being an artist myself, and having gallery representation across Canada for over 20 years, has taught me a lot about what I appreciate in a gallery relationship, as well as some things I haven’t liked along the way. Those experiences have really shaped how I run Benz Gallery and how I work with the artists I represent.
I try to be very open and honest with the artists I work with, and my goal is to showcase the full range of what they’re creating rather than dictate the direction their work should take. I believe artists do their best work when they’re given the freedom to explore and develop their own practice.
Many of the artists I represent have been in my life for 15 years or more. We’ve worked together through exhibitions, galleries, and art shows over the years, so those relationships go well beyond a typical business arrangement.
At this point, many of them are more like friends than anything else. Having that shared experience and mutual respect makes a huge difference in how I approach the gallery.
6) The gallery occupies a space with a long history in London’s art scene, formerly home to the Thielsen Gallery. What did you want Benz Gallery to contribute to London’s arts community when you opened it, and has that vision changed over the years?
That’s a good question! Thielsen Gallery has a tremendous legacy in London, having exhibited major artists from the Group of Seven and the Painters Eleven to the London Regionalists — so those were certainly big shoes to fill.
When I took over the space, I had a roster of artists in mind and a vision for the kind of gallery I wanted to build. We started there, and the gallery has continued to grow and evolve along with the artists we represent.
Moving forward, I’d really like to continue championing this new generation of contemporary artists and see where that takes us. There’s so much talent around our city, and I’m excited about helping bring that work to a wider audience.
We’ve also had some wonderful opportunities to connect with the space’s history and showcase artists from earlier generations. We took on the estate of Rudolf Bikkers, who had exhibited at Thielsen Gallery, and put together a fantastic exhibition of his work.
We’ve also had the opportunity to show pieces by artists such as Greg Curnoe, Tony Urquhart, Clark McDougall, and Karel Appel.
As the gallery continues to grow, I’m looking forward to expanding our offerings in the secondary market while continuing to support contemporary artists.
For me, it’s about respecting the history of the space while building something that reflects where the London art scene is today and where it might go in the future.
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