This season, Second Thought Theatre successfully pulled off a slate of world premiere shows by local playwrights. With unconventional stories, STT finishes off its season with Parker Davis Gray’s bold thriller Incarnate. Perfectly timed for the Halloween season, the marketing hinted at a more terrifying experience but delivered something different, though no less compelling. Gray and director Jenna Burnett with a cast of two created a pervasive sense of unease with a gripping narrative that held attention from beginning to end.
The strength of Incarnate was its intricate character development and the unraveling of Gray’s central mystery. Kristen Lazarchick and Jeffrey Schmidt star as Rosamund and Peter. Rosamund is a 24 year-old kidnapped by the perplexing but benevolent Peter. She’s naturally frightened and on the defense. He’s generous, polite and cooks for her. As the story unfolds, Peter’s intentions become clear which makes an already distressed story more so.
Rosamund is confined to a cell the majority of the play albeit with all the comforts of a homey prison. Lazarchick’s tension was rampant throughout her entire body. Her body and voice were taut with anger and fear and defiance. The role allowed for some range and when Rosamund expressed concern to Peter, Lazarchick added a weapon of softness to her character’s arsenal but her explosive moments deeply conveyed the character’s suffering.
As Peter, Schmidt had to straddle the line of creepy kidnapper and proper gentleman. Schmidt leaned more into Peter’s heartfelt disposition filled with compassion and bereavement. I mean, if one must be kidnapped, Peter would be the ideal captor, offering three homemade meals daily, an en-suite bathroom in the cell, and a new bed. Schmidt’s natural warmth played well for his character, but he also tapped into a dispirited man with one obsessive goal.
Each actor’s ability to convey complex emotions and internal struggles made the characters genuine, even at the play’s most fantastical moments
Visually, the production immediately displayed impressive design by Leah Mazur. A full-on jail cell took up most of the stage’s real estate that contained a bed, a working sink and bookshelves. The set was encased in all dark tones that added to the ominous nature of the story and the cell that loomed so large.
Lighting and sound design were particularly effective in the perpetual building tension. Claudia Jenkins Martinez’s sound created an air of gloom even through the use of distorted classic pop rock music. Added with Aaron Johansen’s clever lighting that would gradually reveal more to the eye, Incarnate succeeded on serving up portentous vibes that mixed in supernatural special effects. Danielle Georgiou was credited as the show’s Spooky Designer, which I didn’t know what that meant, but she clearly fulfilled her duties as the entire show thrived on creepy, scary vibes.
That being said, Incarnate, though, wasn’t as scary as it seems to want to be. Gray’s themes here were certainly dark with its grim situation but any scary elements felt more psychological than visceral. While the narration of Rosamund’s year-long captivity – depicted through both story and set design – conveyed the passage of time, the repetitious nature of some segments felt unnecessary. This redundancy lost some of the narrative’s streamlining and impact at last Monday night’s performance as well as extended the program’s proposed runtime of “approximately 1.5 hours.”
Incarnate may have been horror-presenting, this was more a psychological thriller. This is hardly a flaw. Its reliance on suspense and character tension culminated in a provocative and meticulously crafted piece of theater.
The show runs through Nov. 1.
–Rich Lopez
