PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Spooky season is almost here, and performing artist Gunnar Montana is leaning into it with his latest Philly Fringe show, “BLACK WOOD.”
“It's a really cool, immersive world of just crazy witchery,” Montana says. “You enter through a big cave, and you can sit in a witch’s apothecary. And then this show just kind of happens around you.”
“BLACK WOOD” tells the story of a coven of witches who discover their supernatural strength in the face of adversity. The mystical world is established from the moment the audience enters. Montana compares it to a haunted house experience, but with a narrative show inside.
“I did spend a really long time this summer building out an entire cave just to have people walk through it, just so you're transported into this world,” he says.
“And then there's a one hundred-foot mural that surrounds you that's all willow trees. And then there's a giant tree house we built…and the dancers and the performers are actually moving underneath you as you sit down, because it’s elevated seating.”
Montana is known for very visual, dance-centric, immersive productions, blending his passions for dance and visual art. His last few pieces have been bold, queer performances slathered in glitter, neon and sexuality — like last year’s “BATH HOUSE.”
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Montana says “BLACK WOOD” comes from his more reserved, reflective side.
“I think we kind of get wrapped up in being queer figures, and that's kind of all you are, and there's just so much dimension to humanity that I'd like to explore every facet of that. So this is an exploration of the other side of me.”
The horror theme harkens back to his earlier work, like “BASEMENT,” which came out in 2019, and “WROUGHTLAND” from 2016.
Of course, Montana can’t create a production on this scale alone. Over the years, he’s gathered a team under Gunnar Montana Productions and this year, he wanted to highlight the women he works with.
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“I just collected them all up and said, ‘Hey, you want to be a coven?,’” he says, “and they said, ‘Absolutely.’”
“They're such powerful figures that I just felt like they needed a spotlight for a year,” he added.
Montana is in the show himself, but he plays a smaller role.
“It feels really good to be able to kind of pass that torch, especially right now where the torch is dimmed for a lot of us in the art world, and opportunities are hard to come by.”
For an elevated experience, “BLACK WOOD” offers a VIP Witches Apothecary package, where ticket holders sit at the witches’ altar. There will also be a special Halloween experience on Oct. 31 with added performers and a look behind the scenes.
Performances are at the Latvian Society of Philadelphia in Northern Liberties, starting September 7. Tickets and more information can be found on the Gunnar Montana Productions website.
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