I’ve been to many intimate plays and seen performances on stages smaller than a Saltine cracker, but “OAK” takes the cake for immersive theater.
Written by African American playwright Terry Guest, “OAK” made its Indiana debut on the Phoenix Theatre stage on May 22. Directed by Mikael Burke, the show is onstage in the Frank & Katrina Basile Studio Theatre through June 8 as part of the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere.
The press release said “OAK” is a southern gothic horror about three kids, a crazy old lady with a shotgun and a mysterious creek monster — and it is, but it’s also so much more.
“OAK” is presented in a black box as theatre in the round — the floor is the stage, with the audience members seated in risers along all four sides. The set pieces are minimal — a window, a chair, a bed and an ironing board. Spanish moss falls from the ceiling and fog hangs in the air, a mere suggestion of Rome, Georgia, with the ever-present creek gurgling and the hair-raising fear of what waits at the bottom of it.
“OAK” does a lot with a little and even more with lighting and sound. It draws you in and chews you up, sans the safety of a fourth wall — a flashlight in your face, the sound of barking dogs over your shoulder, the tickle of fog under your nose. It’s 90 minutes with no intermission, but it felt like a lifetime.
Pickle (Jadah Rowan) greets the audience in the woods with a flashlight and a ghost story.
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Generational secrets hold many of this small town’s residents hostage. People are both fearful and skeptical of whatever “monster” — real or imagined — is snatching kids from their beds at night. Parents tell their children stories of the creek monster Odella, once an ancestor who chose the murky waters of the creek over returning to a life of slavery, caring for the child she shares with her master — dubbed “Mr. White Cracker” in Pickle’s opening monologue.
The details of Odella’s story are hazy, and not everyone believes in a child abducting monster, but those who see the red eyes lurking behind the oak tree next to the creek are never seen again.
However, the warning to Black mothers is clear: Odella’s punishment for abandoning her baby was death by drowning. In her dying breath, she promised to come back for her baby.
Now, she’ll come back for yours.
Real or not, a sense of dread washes over the room each time the stage becomes foggy, lit up with red spotlights as a siren wails in the background and the pre-recorded message drones on, “It’s 7 p.m. Do you know where your children are?”
What follows is a cycle of violence, trauma and loss for Black children. It’s a cycle that Peaches (PsyWrn Simone), a young single mother trapped working a minimum wage job, barely escaped, and her children,16-year-old Pickle and 9-year-old Big Man (Joshua Short), are desperate to outrun. However, when their cousin Suga sees the eyes and then (Tracy Nakigozi) disappears, it strikes a chord for long-held secrets and buried trauma to surface all at once.
Once the monster sets its eyes on her, Pickle doesn’t crack under fear and instead goes looking for answers on how to defeat Odella from the one person who survived her: First Lady Temple (a.k.a. the crazy old lady with a shotgun, also played by Simone).
It’s a dance between the cast and the audience. Rowan is magnetic onstage as she recounts the story, shaping the narrative in Pickle’s favor. She’s bold but not unafraid. She makes you want her to survive. As Big Man, Short is playful and silly, reminding audiences of the hope we keep buried beneath fear, and how quickly children are expected to grow up. It’s endearing, yet powerful.
Simone’s portrayal of Peaches claws at you in her moments alone. She confesses to us her fears and wishes and disdain of the constant rain, all while mopping floors during her night shift at a fast food joint. However, First Lady Temple raises the hair on your arms, cackling through chewing tobacco and brandishing a shotgun. The switch between them is as electrifying as Nakigozi’s switch between the anxious Suga and infamous Odella is haunting, returning as the creek monster to — well, go see the show.
“OAK” is about family, trauma, safety and grief. It’s about systematic oppression, guilt and anger but it’s also about the things we do to hold onto hope and how painful it can be to choose healing. It’s about a lot of things. “OAK” is heavy, but it’s bearable. With Burke’s direction, the show doesn’t shy away from showing the hard things, but it doesn’t dive too deep without allowing for laughter as a slight reprieve.
“OAK” is a brilliant show in so many ways. It is devastating to watch, but it’s also really funny. The Phoenix Theatre presented a story that, at its core, truly is terrifying, but in a very real and tangible way that kind of sucks the breath out of your lungs and makes you sit in stilted silence.
I loved it.
“OAK” features mature themes and language, including discussions of racism, slavery, sexual violence, death and grief. The show features haze, fog, flashing lights, sirens and gunshot sounds.
“OAK” is onstage at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Center, 705 N. Illinois St., May 22-June 8. Tickets are $20-$24. For more information or to view a full performance schedule, visit phoenixtheatre.org.
Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.
Chloe McGowan is the Arts & Culture Reporter for the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper. Originally from Columbus, OH, Chloe graduated with a degree in journalism from The Ohio State University. She is a former IndyStar Pulliam Fellow, and her previous work includes freelancing for Indy Maven, Assistant Arts & Life Editor for The Lantern, and editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Chloe enjoys covering all things arts and culture — from local music, visual art, dance, theater and film, as well as minority-owned businesses. In her free time, Chloe enjoys reading, cooking and keeping her plants alive.
