Review: EDGE of Orion Youth Theatre presents “The Silent Tower” A New Virtual Play by Leah Lopez

We open on a starship far, far away. After years of brutal conflict, the Itific System wants to join the peaceful Arc Guild of the Lehr Galaxy, but the Ovidco Empire wants nothing to do with peace. Ovidco's new weapon has the ability to synchronize the efforts of all of its starships into one galvanized machine of war, The Harbinger. Controlled by a massive command structure on a tower in the middle of an orbital nightmare, it becomes the sole target of the combined forces of the Arc Guild. Cadets from the Arc Academy have a chance to turn the tide of the war with starship fighter squads and the renowned dreadnought The Magnificence. Will the Arc Guild's combined forces triumph or will Ovidco thwart their efforts and spread war throughout the galaxy? No, this isn’t a Kathleen Kennedy concoction. This is Chicago-based EDGE of Orion Youth Theatre’s new virtual play “The Silent Tower.” And Broadway should be quaking.

With “The Silent Tower,” director Abigail Lafont fearlessly charges headfirst into the largest battle currently being waged in artistic communities worldwide: can theatre even be called “theatre” if it is virtual? Lafont and the entire Orion team take no prisoners; in Leah Lopez’s intentionally virtual play, every aspect of storytelling and its technological medium is flawlessly welded together in a theatrical hybrid paradigm for the modern age.

Under Lafont’s deft direction, the half-hour adventure flies by, meandering through the thrills of science fiction twists and turns with clarity and a spirit of spontaneity—no small feat for communicating a completely original plot with people, places, and things (literally) alien to us. Yet the pièce de resistance is actually the larger picture of the presentation of the play itself; “The Silent Tower” is no live Zoom reading, but rather a conglomerate kaleidoscope of pre-recorded actors alongside visual effects, cinematic scoring, and animated settings added in post-“performance.”

“That’s a movie,” you may be thinking. I’ll get to you later.

First let me preface that EDGE of Orion's mission, and this production, is focused on building and supporting a community of students and those who are differently-abled, have intellectual disabilities, or identify from marginalized communities in the Chicago area and beyond. Despite the often prevalent belittling of youth or educational theatre within the industry (a subject for another article), EDGE of Orion leads with grace and ingenuity as demonstrated by this brilliant original work that manages to be maturely enjoyable and as naturally fun as any entertainment option at our fingertips these days. Even with such fantastical given circumstances as an intergalactic battle for peace, the commitment of everyone involved shines throughout. There is an earnest urgency in the stakes of this fictional war we’ve been dropped in that every actor, editor, and designer whole-heartedly supports under Lafont’s astute eye; in fact, the magic of the play begins the moment you realize this fictional story set mostly in individual starship cockpits and holograms makes perfect, genius sense to be performed via reality’s socially-distant, individual webcams.

In the haste of bemoaning the loss of “normal” in-person plays, it is also easy to overlook those in our theatre community who our “normal” never served well in a capitalist society that rewards only those physically and financially able to “do” theatre. By championing neurodiversity as a core DNA value in their arts and educational programming, EDGE of Orion’s virtual production makes perfect sense to layer multiple artistic textures together. Does the live performance of the actors cease to be a live performance in the eyes of the actors and their educational experience just because we the audience are seeing a delayed version with added-in effects?

A similar vein of thought pulsed out at me throughout Lopez’s seminal, humorous script. The aptly-named impending threat, The Harbinger, portents an enemy ideology we are told at the start is bad: connecting all ships to one control center able to be manipulated (presumably for evil intentions). While on some level all large-scale organizations, galactic or earthly, are ripe for consequential decisions by powerful individual members (oh I don’t know, the government, UN, W.H.O…), this core plot catalyst of the threat of conformity told through a cast of diverse individuals was subtly moving. Finding in Lopez’s articulate artifice such an apt analogy for an individualist vs. collectivist ideological struggle permeating our present pandemic and political populace was perhaps an accident, albeit an accident as perfect as the Powerpuff Girls’ preposterous parturition.

In the virtual commercial theatre market, oversaturated with producers’ ghastly bedroom reading ideas and juvenile attempts at interactive technology, the impetus for digital creation stems from desperation of wanting to shove a square definition of “theatre” into a circle; instead, what Lopez and the Orion team accomplish here is a shining example of non-profit ingenuity and experimentation, perfectly meeting their actors and audience where they already are— in a story integrally enhanced by technology rather than begrudgingly slave to it.

I am a digital native. A “Zillennial” as I’m being told apparently (as if I needed more of an identity crisis in a global pandemic, but I digress). I argue not for the “replacement” or simple “translation” of live theatre to all copy EDGE of Orion’s pithy prowess moving forward. In an idyllic world, the inherent nature of the artistic piece in question should dictate the medium in which it’s presented. However, it is worth highlighting that what “The Silent Tower” hits on is an (as yet) unquantifiable inherent theatricality in the spirit of the piece. It is “virtual theatre”—even despite being prerecorded and edited!—and not a “movie” or “short” or “web series” or “YouTube video,” simply because it is being declared and presented as such.

It is called virtual theatre, therefore it is. The heretofore trepidation and infuriation at discussing possible harmonies between theatre and modern technology (NO! NETFLIX IS OUR ENEMY! WHY WILL ANYONE PAY TO SEE US WHEN THEY CAN SIT AT HOME NOW ON THEIR PHONES!) is an archaic conversation. Just as there are different benefits to a story relayed through books than movies (I speak here of the creative idea’s original ideation not subsequent cash-cows or adaptations but the true essence that the original creative idea demanded), we, forever the audience, can now differentiate the storytelling expectations between virtual platforms and navigate everything from expected price point to caliber of casting and writing instantaneously when told “what’s it on.” A new YouTube video, an Amazon Prime original, a Netflix original, even now AppleTV+, HBO Max, Peacock, the list will only grow—all evoke different, incalculable essences and expectations.

“The Silent Tower,” after declaring its medium is theatre, and despite being shown on my laptop in my bed as a prerecorded and edited Vimeo, before my very eyes possesses the fluidity and all-permeating “Force” we search for in identifying traditional (mythical) “theatricality.” The idea that camera angles and close-ups separate the definitions of film from theatre is incongruent within our current webcam reality; the fourth wall now goes by the name “Wifi.” And perhaps it is the webcam-facing actors who make me feel theatrically at home, perpetually facing me at that face-on, slight camera point upwards (which cinematically speaking usually makes the subject or setting seem grand or threatening, which to be frank is also how I would describe what I want in a theatre experience staring up at a stage, and now also every Zoom work call where angles are everything in your own live “performance”). And there is something mystical and theatrical in the mixing of mediums miraculously edited to mind-blowing effect, merging filmed actors with VFX and animated settings in an earnest, somehow honest design; the piece could have easily swayed toward a short film feeling, yet I am floored by its elusive place on a spectrum somewhere before CGI cinema artifice, yet simultaneously feeling close to the joy and spontaneity of a childhood trunk play, freshly done on computers rather than living rooms.

But more likely, the heart of “The Silent Tower” is in all this: the mixture of larger-than-life scenarios with a sheen of realist relatability, the marriage of fourth-wall-facing scenes with brilliant storytelling justifiability, and the meaningfulness of inclusive and diverse casting as an outset intention to not only act out but mirror the complexities of life. If this isn’t theatre, what is?

EDGE of Orion Youth Theatre presents “The Silent Tower”

A new virtual play by Leah Lopez. Directed by Abigail Lafont, co-directed by Orion Couling. The cast includes Lindsey Brandt, Charlotte Holmes, Del Foster-Reyes, Ryan Angelopoulos, Lucy Lindstrom, Mike Brandt, Matt Calhoun, Miranda Bishop, Hacho Manojlovski, Levi Crouch, Oz Lieb, Hazel Holmes, Ian Covington, Rhys Read, Alex Speight, Garrett Anderson, Rick Olson, Daniel Raviv, and Angela Rak. The creative team includes Sophia Holmes (Production Manager), Ryan O’Connell (Visual Effects and Editing), Levi Crouch (Props Designer/Maker/Costume Designer), Rick Olson (Sound Design), AJ DiBasilio, Lion Birnecker, Phoebe Edstrom, Owain Lopez, Issac Leib, Cordia Morrison-Contreras (Assistant Editors), Lion Birnecker, Phoebe Edstrom, Farzin Sharyari (Assistant Sound Designers), Dave Lysen (Asset Artist).

Original performance dates August 22/23, 2020. Tickets start at $15 with options for single day or household day tickets (for performance weekend), and “Post Performance Single or Household Access” options for viewing up to two weeks of access starting after the performance weekend. Tickets can be purchased by visiting edgeoforion.com.

ABOUT EDGE OF ORION

EDGE of Orion's mission is to use the theatre arts, workshops, and project-based learning to educate and inspire social change to the community of Chicagoland and beyond. Our focus is on students who are differently-abled, have intellectual disabilities or from marginalized communities. We are committed to teaching self-esteem, independence and higher expectations in a life-changing, educational environment.

Photo Credit: EDGE of Orion