29th Annual First Year Shows Truth of Identity, Community

There is nothing like the feeling of sitting in a theater waiting for the curtain to rise so that the actors can appear on stage and transport the audience to another world. That anticipation, the rustle of programs and the low chatter of friends and family eagerly awaiting the start of the show filled the Hepburn Zoo last weekend as audiences watched the 29th annual show for the first year.

Directed by visiting professor of acting Ashley Baptiste, “Echoes of Truth” opened on October 3rd and ended on October 5th. During the production, nine first graders gave their stage debut in Middlebury-some of them had participated in their high school graduation school theater program and others who were acting for the first time. Regardless of their background, the Echoes of Truth company puts their heart and soul into the production. Their performances embodied the show’s core question: “Who are you?”

At the beginning of the semester, the cast began a three-week process led by Baptiste to develop the show. This existential theme, “Echoes of Truth,” was inspired by the Baptist series workshop series entitled “I Am,” which has been in development for several years. Because Baptiste’s main scenes were carefully chosen to highlight the actors’ strengths, the cast was then left to create their own scene transitions. They wrote poems and monologues and chose songs to emphasize these moments. Every scene and transition contributed something to the series’ themes of family, friends, self-expression, and truth revelations.

On Saturday afternoon my curiosity was aroused by a minimalist stage design. In the center of the floor were three white blocks, a door, and chairs placed on the left and right sides of the stage, which would later be used by the actors to observe their fellow actors as spectators and members of the group. Given the cramped space and dimly lit atmosphere at Hepburn Zoo, I knew I was in for a night of intimate and captivating theater performances.

The show began unexpectedly, with no address from the director to signal the transition into the world of the play. Instead, the audience’s attention was suddenly diverted from the pre-show conversions and phone scrolling when an actor suddenly appeared from behind the black curtain. She moved slowly and was soon followed by the rest of the cast, all finding an empty spot on the stage and quickly filling the small space. The lights changed and a hum of music began – we had finally been transported to “Echoes of Truth.”

The opening section of the play consisted of all nine actors moving to the music and performing a specific action through fluid movements; Forming and throwing a snowball, fixing your hair and clothes in the mirror and various karate positions, to name a few. The silence was broken when the actors said the words “I am” in roaring unison. What followed was a ripple effect with each actor making their own personal “I am” statements. This opening scene asked the audience to think about their own statements.

The main scenes were selections from “Almost Maine” by John Cariani, “Death Tax” by Lucas Hnath, “Be Aggressive” by Annie Weisman, “52nd to Bowery to Cobble Hill in Brooklyn” by Chiara Atik and “The Dream of the Burning”. Boy” by David West Read. These scenes varied greatly in characters, storylines, and context. Audiences were transported from the blossoming of young love, to the grief of a mother trying to save her son, to an awkward taxi ride between two new acquaintances and beyond. But whether comedy or drama, each scene had one clear element that tied them all together and justified its place in Echoes of Truth: a revelation of someone or something. A truth revealed.

The final moments of the show repeated the music, movements and “I am” statements of the opening. However, after watching the show in its entirety, this exercise took on new weight. The audience was able to see how all these different elements are interwoven and ultimately came back to the core question of who we are. This question of identity was the driving force of “Echoes of Truth” and stayed with me hours after I left the theater.