Review: INSTRUCTIONS FOR A SEANCE at Milwaukee Rep

 With "Instructions for a Séance" acor/playwright Kate Bender tries to summon the spirit of Houdini to help her and the audience temporarily escape the challenges and tedium of their lives. Harry Houdini, or Eric Weiss as he was initially known in Milwaukee and Appleton Wisconsin, in addition to being known worldwide for his escapes is also a local favorite son, so if Bender sould ever get him to show up – the Milwaukee Rep’s Herro-Franke Studio Theater seems like a better than even bet.

Katie Bender blurs the line between real life and performance. She is extraordinary at appearing ordinary, which makes the more spiritual aspects of the show all the more believable. Director Lily Wollf maintains an engaging rhythm as the action moves between spiritual planes .

It’s a one woman show - if you don’t count the audience members offered on-stage seats at the séance – who may or may not be in on the séance secrets. The entire audience is invited to write their wishes for an escape on slips of paper which are taken to and read (a few) onstage.

Bender is extremely relatable – tossing in specific local references, but the audience quickly learns to not get comfortable – séance never went where I expected, the narrative pivots never ended. To say more would be a disservice.

Suffice it to say, Bender is a master story teller - and the audience does escape for the show’s 70 minutes, even if they never quite know where they’re  escaping to.The audience - was under Bender's spell from beginning to end.

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