By Samantha Baird
If there’s one thing that An Other Theater Company in Provo is known for, it is breaking the norm and status quo of theatre in Utah Valley and that is exactly what they continue to do with their world premiere piece, The Rapture Happens at Midnight running now through May 4th. This piece, devised by director Liz Golden and her team, is stunning, beautiful, and guaranteed to be like nothing you have ever seen before.
Michael (Joel Applegate) is a pastor who has predicted the rapture and announced it to the world on his podcast, but what happens when his family is conflicted between believing him, trusting him, and finding the truth for themselves? Applegate is stunning as the pater familias, and his efforts to be a father, knowing what he knows, is significant, real, and poignant. His daughter “D” (Jessamyn Svensson) is his biggest disbeliever of all but seems to want her family to know how much she still loves them. At each toll of the bell when the clock hit midnight, I found myself inching forward in my seat in suspense of which direction the story would go and I think it is beautiful that this moment mirrors a devised piece: wondering with each rehearsal where the story would go.
Other members of the family include Michael’s wife Deborah (Cathy Ostler), “D”’s other sisters: Mary (Bryn Curry), Beth (Merry Magee), Ruth (Chelsea Hickman), and Hannah (Camilla Martinez), Mary’s daughter Paislee (Lucy Golden), and Michael’s assistant/follower Martin (Bryce Lloyd Fueston). The relationships that are explored between each of these characters and their feelings about Michael’s prediction are so fascinating and so unique you can’t help but see them as genuinely real people, not characters. Ostler’s Deborah is devoutly dedicated to her husband and waits and watches with him as they prepare for the rapture. Magee seems to follow the footsteps of Svensson as sisters who maybe don’t quite believe what their father has been telling them, demonstrating a need to question what we are told. Hickman and Curry, like their mother, believe fully in the prediction, and through their relationship the audience learns something new about the relationship between faith and fear. The final relationship is that of Martinez and Golden, a relationship through which the importance of living in the moment, no matter what, is exemplified. Each of these women play their roles so clearly and heartbreakingly that sitting in the audience I couldn’t help but love them and fear for them as we all sat and watched the events of the evening unfold. The wild card of the group, who doesn’t fit into the aforementioned relationships, is Fueston, an outsider who has been accepted into the family but doesn’t quite fit in anywhere. Each person in the show plays a part so vital and intertwined with the others that I still can’t believe how quickly this piece was devised and put together.
Walking into the theatre, I immediately noticed the painted stained-glass murals on the backdrop, designed by Martinez and constructed by Martinez and Liz Whitaker. The wall is beautiful and if I ever have stained glass anywhere in my house, I would want that mural. Of the lighting (Ryan Throckmorton Fallis), sound (Whitaker), costume (Ash Knowles), and prop (Kacey Spadafora) designs, what can be said is that they were phenomenally done to the point that I forgot that I was watching a play and could have honestly been watching someone’s life play out.
The Rapture Happens at Midnightis a marvelous show about hope, doubt, faith, and everything in between. If you don’t leave with questions or talking about it on your way home, something has gone terribly wrong and you absolutely must see it a second time. Be sure to see The Rapture Happens at Midnightat An Other Theater Company in the Provo Towne Centre mall before it’s too late. Where will you be?
An Other Theater Company presents The Rapture Happens at Midnight
An Other Theater Company, 1200 Towne Centre Blvd., Provo, UT 84601
April 12-May 4, 7:30 PM, Matinee April 28 5:00 PM
Tickets: $12-17
An Other Theater Company Facebook Page
The Rapture Happens at Midnight Facebook Event
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