what: anna in the darkness by jeremy menekseoglu
where: dream theatre's new labratory in lincoln square
accompaniment: emily + don
drinkability: byob! we all had mini boxed wines which were delightful.
show length: 45 minutes, no intermission
out of four: three/four
even though i am a part of a horror-based theatre company and relish in making audiences uncomfortable and spooked in the work i have done with them- its not often that i voluntarily subject myself to horror-based entertainment, especially live theatre. so- in preparing to enter dream theatre's new laboratory space with dim lights and eerie environmental noises, i felt a sinking in my stomach knowing that i might not quite be prepared for what was coming next.
now in its thirteenth (!!) season performance at dream theatre, AITD is a tale of an isolated special education teacher played by megan merrill. she has locked herself in the basement of her home after an incident leaves the entire town turning against her. she's quite established in her darkened and messy room littered with a few empty booze bottles, various home items, and a pile of bricks that have been thrown through her window, scrawled with threats, since she enclosed herself.
the most effective image of the play itself happened in the first five minutes as merrill rushes out onto the stage, turns on the old television set that sits center, and cowers in front of it as it turns on into eerie static - throwing the only light in the room. i was immediately wishing for more light to be revealed, and as she lit a singular candle my eyes and nerves started to adjust to the story.
in menekseoglu's 45 minute staging of anna and her story we are led through a weaving of the tale of what got anna into that basement combined with intermittent fears and disruptions as bricks are thrown in through windows, messages are left for anna to find in a darkened room, and crashes and voices are heard appearing closer and closer. from the moment anna revealed she had a secret to tell us (i.e.- what happened to make the townspeople so enraged at her), i wanted to know. i had to know. i was locked in.
i believe that anna in the darkness is successful and dream theatre continues to produce it not only because of the audience's need to know what happened to this broken seemingly innocent woman, but also because merrill is a powerhouse as anna. she displays a mountain of emotions, often with tears streaming down her face, but breaks into lighter moments in easier memories. her emotional control in combination with her absolute comfort in stepping into the shoes (or rather, socks) of anna in such an intimate space are key. you do truly believe at times that you're trapped there with you, and a brick might go flying by your head at any moment.
the only moments that pulled me out of the experiment was the constant worry about what time it was (a threat looming above anna that something from the townspeople would happen to her in the ghost hour of three a.m.) and not being able to have access to a digital clock as the power in the house is consistently shut off - yet she held an iPhone in her hand and used it to take photos of a couple of audience members- studying them closely to make sure they weren't the attackers themselves, but honest spectators as perceived. this modern digital error made me question why anna was constantly searching for the time, and putting herself in imminent danger in order to be prepared for the three o'clock hour- when the answer was literally in her hands.
despite the small glitches of error that brought me out of the environment of anna's home, i highly recommend this dream theatre experience. help them warm their new home in lincoln square by catching this saturday's closing night performance, 10pm.
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upcoming july shows:
wednesday july 31st, 7:30pm: jackalope theatre's exit strategy
join me, will you?