A Place That Belongs to Monsters is a beast of four tales, inspired by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, each revolving in part around some measure of their grim aspect. Through these four tales, we find four women, each of whom carry the weight of the world and their own struggles within themselves. The tales are each woven with the magic and wonder that comes with a world seen with different eyes.
As is a signature motif of Casey Jay Andrews’s work, there is a secondary tale at work here, an impassioned yearning of an animal to break free of constraint: in this case, as befits the inspiration, a racehorse who refuses to run at command, elsewhere in the story a young girl defying her mother, out of compassion, a teenager who won’t play by the rules of others and at each turn, a series of choices, good and bad, and how those which break the rules may not in fact always be an evil.
Andrews's latest song of human experience is a soundly performed exploration of spirit, told with simple ease by the master raconteur herself. The performance is scant on technical flourishes, needing little more than an occasional music and light change and the few sparingly used props. The rich depth of the story that touches deep is all that's needed here.
A Place That Belongs to Monsters is a beautiful and soulful story of pity and of kindness, a tearful joy of a tale, a sorrowful conjuration and evocation of conquest, war, famine and death, bound together with heart, song, poetry and love.