This story was originally published by ArtsATL.
”True North,” at 7 Stages Theatre through March 31, presents big ideas about how human beings are connected to the universe and how the energy of the world can shift based upon positivity. The show proves its point by giving its audience high-quality, engaging content for the first two-thirds. Then it fumbles the ending, losing all good momentum the play had built up and leaving the crowd deflated.
There are some magnificent performances in the production, directed by Heidi S Howard and written by Atlanta playwright Lee Nowell. There’s cool music and dance. The black-box space is decorated with natural elements evoking Georgia’s coastal islands, and seating is arranged in the round. And it’s full of neat, interactive science experiments, which invite the audience to lean forward and participate in the show.
Audience members wanted “True North” to work. We wanted to believe in the notion that we’re all valuable, integral and capable of changing the world. We wanted to be inspired. Nowell’s script — and the majority of the production — aim to do just that with its structure.
Credit: Photo by Jonesia Williams
Credit: Photo by Jonesia Williams
The show begins with an average Joe, brilliantly played by Markell Williams, emerging from the audience to deliver a great monologue about how he unwittingly became involved in a university science experiment that ended up changing his perspective about science and the universe.
In the experiment, he and a group of others were blindfolded, taken to an unfamiliar location and asked to point out magnetic north to determine if human beings have the same internal compass that other species, like migrating birds or domesticated dogs, still have.
Then, our Everyman Joe goes into further details about how changes in our surrounding energies can affect our moods, our judgments or our perceptions about the world. The play is full of big swings, trying to explain why we live as we do or why we would feel more uneasy as of late. These intellectual moves are fascinating, even as some of the ideas become more outlandish.
The script is structured so that it features three lengthy monologues, interlaced with a team of fun, silly scientists — played by Isis Kleef and Cadence Nabors — showing us actual experiments that illustrate the points raised with the game glee of “Mr. Wizard.”
The second monologue, designed to explain magnetic north, is an illustrated projection featuring narration from noted Atlanta native Scott Turner Schofield. Its inclusion makes the play feel more like a delightful, interactive exhibit from a field trip to Fernbank, which gave the show a great energy.
Throughout this, music and dance from Dorothy Bell-Polk, clad in one of the glorious costumes provided by Dr. L. Nyrobi Moss, accompanies the other performers. Sometimes, Bell-Polk descends from where she’s playing music to interact with the audience and other characters. Eventually, her character is revealed as the embodiment of the Noosphere, a philosophical concept which theorizes that all living things transfer energies to one another, including positive vibes.
Bell-Polk’s own vibe is incredible. As she stretches and sways, the audience is rapt.
The third monologue is the show’s biggest obstacle. This should be its victory lap, communicating big ideas and explaining how we, the audience, can change the world. Instead, this moment is very poorly executed.
Anne, played by Priscilla Umphrey, wheels a podium out onto the stage and is introduced as a guest lecturer from the Atlanta Science Foundation who also happens to be a Native American jingle dress dancer. She is reading her entire monologue — full of scientific jargon, philosophy, mystical ideas and even references to the 9/11 attacks — from notecards.
Credit: Photo by Ezra Stone
Credit: Photo by Ezra Stone
At first, it was unclear if the person on stage was an actual unprepared lecturer. But, no — Umphrey was playing a character, and she didn’t know her lines.
At one point, during the performance attended for review, Umphrey moved away from the podium carrying the notecards with her and began to dance with Bell-Polk, the two mirroring each other’s movements. At certain points, the dancing caused Umphrey to place the notecards on the ground. The cards became readable to some members of the audience, who could see that even the stage directions and prompts were written down.
Some lines of dialogue were repeated. Other lines were read with no nuance or improperly paced. There was no eye contact and no emotional connection. There was a divide between the audience and the performers in these final moments that had not been there before.
Whatever decisions led to these critiques should be reconsidered for future productions. This scene was so important; it was supposed to drive home the impact of the entire piece. But the promise of the play was lost at its conclusion. This show deserved better.
THEATER REVIEW
“True North”
7 Stages Theatre through March 31. Schedule varies. $25-$35. 7 Stages, 1105 Euclid Ave. NE, Atlanta. 404-523-7647, www.7stages.org.
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Benjamin Carr is an ArtsATL editor-at-large who has contributed to the publication since 2019 and a member of the American Theatre Critics Association, the Dramatists Guild, the Atlanta Press Club and the Horror Writers Association. His writing has been featured in podcasts for iHeartMedia, onstage as part of the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival and online in The Guardian. His debut novel, Impacted, was published by The Story Plant.
Credit: ArtsATL
Credit: ArtsATL
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