Grand Guignol Theatre

The Grand Guignol Theatre is a fictional business featured on the Showtime original series Penny Dreadful. It first appeared in the third episode of season one, "Resurrection". It made four appearances in the series in total.

Description
The Grand Guignol Theatre was a stage theatre located in the Soho district of London, England. It was operating during the latter half of the 19th century and primarily showcased plays of twisted and gruesome subject matter; also known as "penny dreadfuls".

History
The production manager of the theatre was an aloof old-world performer named Vincent Brand. Brand hired a homeless deformed man (the Frankenstein Monster) and gave him the name Caliban, after a character from William Shakespeare's The Tempest. He had him work as a stage hand. Two of the theater's main actors was a man named Simon and his girlfriend, Maud Gunnerson.

The Grand Guignol put on a play about a woman whose lover is cursed to transform into a beast. Amongst the audience members watching this play were Ethan Chandler and Brona Croft. Ethan's expression betrayed no secrets, but he could not ignore how the story of the play mimicked the turmoils of his actual life. After the show, Ethan and Brona went outside where they met two more guests: Vanessa Ives, whom Ethan already knew, and Dorian Gray, who had only recently hired Brona Croft for sex. This chance encounter soured Brona's mood and she vented her anger on Ethan.

As evenings passed, Caliban began developing an attraction for Maud. Maud was kind to him and did not shy away from the scars upon his face. Simon however, was less jovial, and Maud described him as a "beast". Caliban eventually worked up the nerve to make a play for Maud, adorning his face in ridiculous stage makeup. This startled and amused her, which did not do anything to encourage Caliban's resolve. He came at her in a brusque manner, which Maud took as an act of aggression. She complained that Caliban accosted her, forcing Vincent Brand to let him go.

What no one at the theater knew however, was that the upper rigging of the back stage area was home to a nest of vampires. Vanessa Ives and her colleague Sir Malcolm Murray eventually deduced this, and believed that it was where his daughter Mina had been taken. Along with Ethan and Murray's manservant, Sembene, they mounted an attack on the theater. Mina was now a full vampire by this point though, and there was little chance of saving her. She attacked Vanessa, but Malcolm Murray, shot her twice, putting her down once and for all.

Characters associated with the

 * Vincent Brand - Producer
 * Caliban - Stage hand
 * Simon - Actor
 * Maude Gunnerson - Actress
 * Brona Croft - Spectator
 * Ethan Chandler - Spectator
 * Dorian Gray - Spectator
 * Vanessa Ives - Spectator

Appearances

 * 1) Penny Dreadful: Resurrection
 * 2) Penny Dreadful: Demimonde
 * 3) Penny Dreadful: What Death Can Join Together
 * 4) Penny Dreadful: Grand Guignol