SCREAM, ECHO. SCREAM is Emotionally Rich, Intellectually Evocative Storytelling
A booming clap of thunder and a brief, but heavy, downpour signaled the beginning of Summer Baer’s artfully intriguing new play, Scream, Echo. Scream, with music by Bryn McLaughlin. The timing of the quickly passing storm was a perfect complement to a story that spins loss and grief into a compelling tale of consequences and compassion. Director Lize Lewy and playwright Baer weave the themes together well and Baer, along with Kristen Storm, Frankie Ferrari, and Sarah Lantsberger, captivate in performances that feel organically drawn, if fantastic in nature.
Mythology teaches us that the beautiful nymph Daphne was transformed into a laurel tree to escape the affections and attention of Apollo. In Baer’s inventive reimagining, every century the nymphs – minor divinities attached to specific natural locations – gather at the tree to remember and celebrate Daphne and all nymphs past and present with songs, dancing, and rituals.
At the requiem, the newest nymph Socotra, associated with a grand oak tree, overflows with curiosity and a direct, straightforward demeanor that’s purposeful in its lack of nuance. Lantsberger embodies the youthful energy and seemingly endless questions with intelligent persistence. Socotra fervently wants to feel accepted by and a part of the nymphs while remaining true to herself, filled with wanderlust and wonder. Lantsberger adroitly seeks this balance. As the elder nymph, Peyto, associated with a glacier, provides guidance to Socotra and leads the nymphs through the ceremony. But she has secrets eating at her, and outside forces destroying her habitat and shrinking her glacier. Will she soon join other nymphs who have turned to memory stones, disappearing with their natural environments? Storm dives deep into Peyto’s complexity and shame – every word a deliberate choice, every emotion guarded – until she can’t bear the wait of the secrets and pain anymore.
Ozark, a rebellious, wildly free-spirited and forward-thinking nymph associated with a lake, transforms the ritual into revelry and music, pines for Peyto’s affection, and confronts the ceremony’s history with the stories she’s heard. They’re also incredibly empathetic and very protective of Echo. Ferrari brings brutal honesty and a sensual fire that keeps the emotional dynamics of the play in flux. The choices are satisfying and authentic, and the energy is full of determination and action. Echo, the only nymph not born from a natural element, has secrets she cannot simply tell as she can only repeat the words of others. Baer’s Echo picks those words carefully adding emotion and context using her entire physical being. From breath and posture to expression and reaction, Baer’s every movement illuminates the sense of loss, confusion, and uncertainty as well as the longing and hopeful reconciliation that permeate the play.
McLaughlin’s songs amplify the themes, interlacing the story with melody and guiding the emotional tone. Lewy directs with certainty, finding connecting roots that support every choice and intention. Their work is enhanced with strong work from choreographer Greta Johson, also serving as dramaturg, intimacy choreographer Kayla Lindsay, and fight choreographer Mo Moellering. Baer, Erin Riley, and Zachary Grimm add detail with a clever set, sound, and lighting design – adding a sense of the ethereal and magical that elevates the production with effective simplicity.
Baer’s centuries-spanning script integrates ideas from disparate but complimentary sources well, in particular the blending of ancient and modern mythologies with the very real and contemporary challenges of an increasingly fragile natural world. The story resonates – and echoes – concerns about our collective response to climate change and natural disasters without being the least bit preachy or overbearing. Instead, the audience’s emotional investment in the nymphs’ experiences, heightened by the instinct to hope for a happy ending, compels us to reflect on the deeper meaning. The independently produced Scream, Echo. Scream is well-thought out and produced, and a thoroughly engrossing and entertaining play with an emotional gravity that may elicit a tear or two. Suitable for most audiences, the production will particularly appeal to fans of mythology, magical realism, and stories about the natural world.
