Ahead of its final performances from a two-weekend run, Outcry Theatre’s should feel a certain sense of pride with its latest production. The company opened Describe the Night, a monumental story told across 90 years centering on a mere seven characters. The narrative was not linear which initially impressed that this could be hard to follow, but with a little patience and through Becca Johnson-Spinos’ direction, the pieces of playwright Rajiv Joseph’s play fell beautifully into place.
The pieces of this puzzle begin with a Russian writer, Isaac, a budding writer and war correspondent in 1920. In 2010, a plane carrying Polish government leaders crashes in Smolensk, inside Russia. In 1990, a Stasi officer falls in love with the subject of his investigation. All these stories are tied together through family lines, factual history, memories and ambition.
The story begins with Isaac Babel alone with his journal approached by a fellow officer Nikolai. Both are clearly younger men and in many ways opposites of each other. As a writer, Isaac is more figurative where Nikolai’s lens is far more literal. Dylan Weand’s Isaac was an understated, intelligent character. Weand shed layers to his character revealing Isaac’s quiet strength until he’s ultimately reduced to rubble. Connor McMurray unleashed a broad range as Nikolai that could have been a one-dimensional alpha. Instead, McMurray was nuanced and comical while also menacing and dangerous which gave Nikolai an unexpected depth that paid off in later scenes.
This first scene was unusual because despite the exposition, the story didn’t seem to push ahead and yet it hinted at the story to come through its dry air. This isn’t a criticism, but rather an observance of Joseph’s writing. Almost as if he’s dared the audience to stay tuned.
The payoff was worth it.
Told in three acts with two intermissions, time jumps back and forth and after that first scene, the ignition truly started on the play with the plane crash and the subsequent scenes that dramatically unfolded the decades-long drama.
Isaac has an affair with Nikolai’s wife Yevgenia, played with a refined elegance by Katelyn Yntema. She gave her a lovely brightness but also crafted a role that relied on portraying Yevgenia’s inner strength. An older Yevgenia had a more IDGAF spirit but with a witty bent and it was a delight to see Yntema’s variations of her character.
Urzula was played with both an edgy and demure flair by Marcy Bogner. Bogner’s character fits into the drama crucially alongside Stasi investigator Vova played with titanic force by Bradford Reilly. The unexpected love affair between the two was a fascinating juxtapo by the playwright to their circumstances. If I’m being vague here, it’s intentional because their story has distinct reveals that resulted personally in audible gasps.
Two other characters seem peripheral to all the events but Feliks and Mariya help tie the story together into finding some resolution for the viewer as well as the show’s MacGuffin, Isaac’s notebook. Chase Di Iulio and Whitney Renee Dodson play the car rental employee and the Russian reporter respectively and each delivered dramatic performances that finished the show with an almost balletic display of staging and props.
Scenes were weaved together through choreographed interludes which didn’t always make sense, but Johnson-Spinos’ choreography was either flowy or intricate with complex moves, but always fit well in between. Jacob Kaplan’s lighting added so much to the drama and the overall weight of the story. His design set deep moods alongside Josn Johnson-Spinos’ sound and projections. Isa Flores bloodied up the actors well – those who were beaten during questioning – with spot-on effects that added to the discourse of the show’s violence.
The actual history behind Isaac Babel and Nikolai Yezhov and his wife Yevgenia was the foundation for Describe the Night, but Joseph’s story extended those figures into a satisfying and sprawling story. The cast felt natural in their roles to easily believe their characters and director Johnson-Spinos let the play slowly breathe out its exposition. Like many Russian-centric tales, the show clocked in at about three hours, but the riveting story and cast made that time well-spent.
The show runs through Sunday at Theatre Three.