How far would you go to save someone you love? Or yourself?
The Starling Effect is a world premiere by local playwright Lara Schmitz, produced by Verb Theatre, in association with Reckless Daughter Creative. It’s a new science fiction play that explores the limits of relationships when it includes keeping souls alive, body swapping and memory hopping. It introduces the genre of speculative fiction to Calgary audiences, a style of storytelling that departs from realism or reality. The play tells an intriguing story, with complex characters, but could use some polish and finesse to give the production more poignancy.
The play tells of Ravonna (Lara Schmitz) who is afraid that she killed her sister Lark (Caleigh Crow), by leaving her soul behind. But she soon discovers that her sister’s soul is trapped in a starling. She goes to her mentor Dr. Sandra Beetle (Esther Purves-Smith) to see if her sister can be rescued, along with Sandra’s wife Amelia (Bronwyn Steinberg), who is also trapped. They strike a deal, but the audience always knows there is something boiling beneath the surface.
The Starling Effect has the science fiction feature of being a little confusing at first, until all the mysteries are resolved. There are pieces that are still floating around toward the end of the play, as some pieces still don’t come together. There are still mysteries at the end of the play, and unresolved questions. But the overarching story comes together nicely, in a thrilling conclusion. The ending would be made more clear if each character had physical characteristics that distinguished them. Some of the memory re-enactments could use more depth of theatricality to pump them up, and the same goes for when characters are in pain.
That being said, there is charm in Julia Kim’s set design (that the artists wheel on and off stage) but the set changes can be a bit distracting. Ajay Badoni’s lighting design adds to the imagination of the play, grounding the play’s location, while Kristin Eveleigh’s sound design adds an additional layer of tension.
This play, a new sci-fi theatre experience, is important. It needs to be on stage, it needs to be re-staged. It is a somewhat unconventional play that deserves to be seen.
Check out what’s next in Verb Theatre’s season here.
Photo Credit: J. Edmund Photography.