A Utah Theater Review by David Henry
The Echo Theatre in Provo put on another quality production with The Turn of the Screw, written by Henry James, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher and directed by Jeffrey Lee Blake. The addition of other short plays before the main feature were a great primer for The Turn of the Screw, and they included Buried, by C.L. Julander, Alone and …And She Smiled, both by Jeffrey Lee Blake. Impeccable acting brought all of these stories to life, and a genuine creepiness that alternately made me smile or made my skin crawl.
The first play was Buried, by C. L. Julander, in which Elizabeth, played by Hailey Nebeker, is a mother seeking to flee her marriage to Daniel (David Lassetter). An eagerly in love Jacob (Chris Bentley) stands waiting to provide her escape. When the couple is confronted by Daniel, secrets start to come out about the children supposed to join them in their flight, and the fragile mental state of Elizabeth. This was very well written, with an interesting twist, and superbly acted. Hailey was chaotic in her emotions, and leant a real sense of urgency and desperation to her character. Chris was very genuine as Jacob, and made his character believable. David took a character who seemed one dimensional at first, and showed us many sides of his character and emotions. Overall this was an excellent piece, and started the night off perfectly.
Next was Alone, by Jeffrey Lee Blake. Here we find Michael (Joel Applegate) mourning the loss of his daughter, and contemplating suicide. He is interrupted by a young girl (Melanie Stone Thomason) who has gotten lost in the woods. His frustration at being interrupted turns into a heartfelt conversation and a reconsideration of his attitude on life, and eventually raises the question of who exactly the girl was. Again the acting was very good, and carried this piece. Joel conveyed a complexity of emotions, and Melanie was funny and genuine. The story lacked the intensity of the other pieces from the show, and some of the movement on stage felt a little unnatural. Overall the piece was good, but if there was a lull in the show, this was it.
The final short play was …And She Smiled, by Jeffery Lee Blake. Here we followed the story of a young student (played on stage by John Jackson and narrated by David Lassetter), who moves into a new apartment, to find a strange beautiful woman (Hailey Nebeker) who would smile at him through the window of an adjacent building. Finding himself captivated by her, he ignores the warnings of the janitor Fritz (Joel Applegate) and becomes obsessed with watching for her to appear again. Each time she does, her influence over him grows, to what end? Once again I was thrilled by the skill shown by the actors in this piece. Hailey seamlessly carried her character from sweet to creepy. John showed great innocence, and felt very natural on stage. Joel was desperate as the janitor trying to warn him. Georgia Bowen Buchert was a little lacking in emotion at times as the landlord Frau Schmidt, but was still able to portray a natural presence on stage. The narration by David Lassetter was very natural, and moved the story along smoothly. This was a genuinely creepy piece, that was slightly predictable, but in the way that many good ghost stories are. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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The main feature of the night was The Turn of the Screw. The story of a governess (Heidi Smith Anderson) sent to care for two children who have seen horrors, and are now being haunted by the ghosts of their former tormentors. As the governess learns more and more of the past, you have to wonder, are the ghosts purely in her head, or is there a more sinister plot involving the very children she’s trying to protect? All other characters in the play were played by Jason Sullivan. If the short plays leading up to it were creepy, then The Turn of the Screw was disturbing. The fact that much of the evil that happens or happened, is left very ambiguous and undefined, leaves a lot to the imagination of the audience, which does a lot more to enhance the evil than to obscure it.
The acting in this show was impeccable. Jason’s transitions between characters were perfect. From old lady, to child, to uncle, to the ghost, there was never any doubt who he was on stage, although his costume never changed, and each character had their own mannerisms, voice and accent. Speaking of accents, Jason’s was perfect, and Heidi’s was nearly so. Heidi blew me away with the power of her acting. She was raw, urgent and desperate on stage, and yet composed and prim when needed. As the intensity grew there were moments where her panicked wheezing breath was so real and intense that I found my heart racing along with her. The actors needed to be perfect to make this show work, and they executed it beautifully.
The set was as minimal as you can get, with literally three chairs, a platform and a backlit screen. It was used expertly, however, and the movement around the stage was urgent and powerful. To me the lighting was a problem though. Often the lights were too harsh, or too soft. The stage was very unevenly lit, forcing the characters to walk in and out of the light often in the middle of speaking their lines. Although it did contribute to the creepiness of the show, it also became a distraction, and sometimes broke the suspended reality which is crucial for this kind of show. Granted, a space this small, with an audience so close can be very difficult to light well. Throughout all the stories, the costuming was excellent, and really helped bring you into the time and place of the characters.
The Echo Theatre is a very intimate space, putting you face to face with the actors, creating a very enjoyable place to see a show. That intimate space was perfect for this show. Such a small space has its disadvantages too, such as a small bathroom, and slightly uncomfortable seating, but I prefer a great show like this in a small setting like the Echo over a large auditorium where you are so separated from the actors that you can’t connect with them like you can here.
In all, this was another excellent show put on by Echo Studios. Great acting and great directing made this show thoroughly enjoyable. I am quickly coming to have great respect for this fairly new theater company. Unfortunately the run of The Turn of the Screw and other Ghost Stories has come to an end, as I only got to see it on closing night. I look forward, however, to many more fabulous shows at the Echo, and I hope you will come support this great, small, local theater. We need more theaters like the Echo, and it is our responsibility as a community to make sure we support good theater by showing up and seeing great shows like this one.
As an additional note, I would like to mention Improv Friends, which is also put on at the Echo. I stuck around to see this after the show. This was a great little improv comedy show. The Echo does improv a little different than other groups I’ve seen, focusing on long form stories instead of the rapid fire games that most groups do. The result is that you get to watch them develop a story from beginning to end as opposed to just getting little snippets and gags. I laughed more consistently throughout this show than any other comedy group I’ve been to. I definitely recommend coming to see this group. And at an admission price of only $5, you can’t complain. Check out their website for upcoming showtimes: http://www.theechotheatre.com/improv-friends.html
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