Recipe for 'Old Fashioned Poison Candy'
By KAREN SHADE, 10/4/2007
Lynn Robertson (left), Kaycee Johnson, Heather Sams and Rob Robertson get treated to the sugary tricks of "Old Fashioned Poison Candy," playing throughout the month at the Nightingale Theater. MIKE SIMONS / Tulsa World
Every year, neighborhoods are overtaken by colorful costumes with kids inside of them. But at Halloween, why should children have all the fun and sweets?
Here’s a unique recipe that comes from the folks at the Nightingale Theater. They’ve been making the colorful treat known as "Old Fashioned Poison Candy" for the last four years, slowly refi ning their technique, yet feeding it to anyone who pays.
Past versions of this recipe have included dancing deviled eggs, live grubs and extraterrestrials, but the Nightingale has come up with another original blend of ghoulish silliness and suspicion laced yarns for the discerning adult viewer.
This recipe could be one of the more unique confections you’ll get to hand out to all of your friends this Halloween — that is, unless it gets you first.
"Old Fashioned Poison Candy"
Serves approximately 80-100 per batch
10 writer/actor types, some of whom will also be used for candy molds
1 band
1 part short scene work, fresh
1 part monologues, fresh
1 part semi-sweet song and dance pieces (can use from last year)
Costumes and props for ghosts, cowboys, hormonally enraptured teenagers, torturers, etc. (doesn’t matter how many)
Heaping tablespoons of grotesqueries, masks, irreverence, over-the-top sexuality, exaggerated gestures, shock, absurdity and a little heart (no, really)
(Note: You’ll need an open mind and some wax paper to handle some of these ingredients because they tend to get a bit sticky after heating.)
1 drop of suspicion (extract, not the vintage French perfume) Bottle of corn syrup (optional)
1. Preheat theater to a comfortable comfortable 75-78 degrees for fall-like conditions. If warm weather persists, cool theater to about 72 degrees or use fans.
2. Blend together several actors and half of the monologues along with story scenes and heat mixture. Can use stove top or high wattage stage lights. Gradually add the rest of the ingredients, including musical numbers and corn syrup, stirring the entire time.
3. Bring mixture to a rolling boil until it becomes transparent. Remove from heat immediately when candy thermometer reads "Overdone."
4. Pour mixture out onto wax paper and stretch the truth. You should begin to see clowns and hear words like "tarantula juice" at this point.
5. Mixture will miraculously take shape as it cools, twisting at the ends. Yields 21 original pieces in less than two hours.
Source: Nightingale Theater
"OLD FASHIONED POISON CANDY"
When: 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Oct. 12-13, 19-20 and 26-27
Where: Nightingale Theater, 1416 E. Fourth St.
Tickets are $8. For reservations or more information, call 633-8666
Note: Production contains adult language and themes and is for a mature audience only.