By Jason and Alisha Hagey
When is a play more than just a wonderful evening out? Salt Lake Acting Company (SLAC) does it again: Brilliance. SLAC, in conjunction with the wildly talented playwright Steve Yockey, creates an unforgettable piece of art that is sure to leave you more than a bit haunted. Sleeping Giant is a tour de force on all counts. SLAC is always looking to expand our viewpoints; showing us ideas and characters that we wouldn’t have otherwise encounter. It is this very expansion, the open door to new thoughts and expressions, this safe haven for exploration, that makes them so vital to our community. The partnership between the creatives at SLAC and the imagination of Yockey is the perfect blend. Sleeping Giant is also one of the most terrifying things I have seen in a long time.
To explain what the show is about, it is probably best to pull from SLAC’s website: ”When a firework-filled marriage proposal goes very wrong, the accompanying explosions wake up something very old that’s been sleeping in the nearby lake for thousands of years. What follows are intimate, darkly comic, and sometimes startling vignettes about the lengths people go when they desperately want something to believe in.” This play is allegorical, despite being ostensibly a work of horror-comedy, that hits a little close to home. And that’s a good thing. Think The Twilight Zone on stage.
Emilio Casillas and Shawn Francis Saunders (Directors) find a way to make each vignette fantastically real. What starts off as cute quickly dissolves into something larger, horrifying, vastly fascinating, and somehow relatable. Together Casillas and Saunders embrace the monster and the fear and then aren’t afraid to give us time to laugh. We need that breathing space.
The cast is outstanding. They jump between a myriad of characters that all center around a lake. Each character is unique. The taut script gives very little time for the actors to fully flesh out their characters, yet they each perform them marvelously. Its effortless and it takes some incredible acting gymnastics to keep up.
Lily Hye Soo Dixon (The Naïf) gives an effervescent performance filled with nuances that flip between realistic, enthusiastic, and dark. She does this without losing a sense of grounded reality despite the unusual context her characters find themselves in. When you hear the fish guts (in a ziplock bag, of course) hit the coffee table, we all react. Dixon excels in those little moments.
Despite his distinguishing build, Robert Scott Smith (The Raconteur) transforms between characters almost unrecognizable from one another. His earnest fiance is especially different than his ballcap-wearing bumpkin. His costume changes – like all the actors – are quick and only slightly different from one another, but Smith disappears into the character.
Tito Livas (The Messenger) has a fluent way of being likable and incredibly creepy all at once. The first time we see him he bursts onto the stage and then later mesmerizes the audience as another character who plays with puppets. He is both a puppet and a puppet master with his devilish turns.
Not sure how she does it but Cassandra Stokes-Wylie (The Convert) is one of the best character actors SLAC casts on a regular basis (and this is saying something since the talent pool they use is phenomenal). Stokes-Wylie has an incredible range. When she makes her first entrance, I giggled to myself when I saw her fascinator (it’s not a hat!). We love her, we believe her, and darn-it-all, her cake sounds delicious.
The designers will truly take your breath away. Halee Rasmussen (Scenic Designer) and Erik Reichert (Construction Supervisor) create magic. Rasmussen designs this seemingly simple set that is stunning. I can’t say more, it will ruin the moments. Reichert figures out how to take this design and bring it to life. Each metamorphosis is distinctive while the essential structure stays the same.
Jessica Greenberg (Lighting Designer) highlights the underpinnings of character through seemingly simple washes of color. It is anything but simple. More than lighting for specific characters, Greenberg creates emotional tension. From the first firework to the Butterfly kingdom, her design breathes even more life into this former church gym turned theatre. Working in tandem is Projection Designer, Michael Francis. Francis gives us glimpses into the fantastical which is just so perfect a pairing with all the other designers.
Bett Shouse (Costume Designer) has the daunting task of the dreaded quick change. How they do it is amazing. With almost no time and just subtle differences, the actors work with Shouse’s base and never miss a moment. Together, the clothing takes on a life of its own.
Cynthia L. Kehr Rees (Sound Designer) gives life to the monster. Her design pushes and pulls us with each transition closer and closer to the final act. She plays on water and currents, which invoke so much life.
In the end, Sleeping Giant is about us – human beings. Yockey pulls us into his world and make no mistake: his world is warped and weird. But that’s the magic of theatre. This strange world is exactly what makes Sleeping Giant powerful, poignant, and worthy of not only watching but rewatching. Yockey’s world is our world. The directors, designers, cast, and crew make his reality our reality. There is no mistaking the deep undertones, themes, and underlying currents of sociopolitical thought that exist just under the surface. We live in this world and there is a gargantuan creature overtaking us all. There is no escape. Or is there? Sleeping Giant needs to be seen. Go see it.
Running Time 90 minutes with no intermission
This show contains language and might not be suitable for a younger audience
Salt Lake Acting Company Presents Sleeping Giant by: Steve Yockey
Salt Lake Acting Company – Upstairs Theatre – 168 West 500 North, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84103
September 1, 2022 – October 16, 2022
Ticket Cost: $30-44
Box Office Phone: 801.363.7522
Box Office Email: info@saltlakeactingcompany.org
Open 11am – 5pm, Mon – Fri
SLAC Website
SLAC Facebook Page
Open Captioned Performance
October 9 at 6pm
Audio Described Performance
October 16 at 6pm
Sensory Performance
October 1 at 2pm
ASL Interpreted Performance
October 15 at 2pm
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