Review: The Eaves
Updated: Oct 7
Even the ghosts have trouble letting go of the past.
A Halloween Scene Theatre Review
The past can be a sticky wicket for both humans and spirits in Justin Meyer’s chilling upstairs production, The Eaves, currently spooking audiences through Halloween. The terrifying exploration of unresolved issues and the lies that are told will send a chill up your spine more than a few times, and it might have you looking around the foggy room wondering how many real ghosts are sharing the experience with you.
We are in the childhood home of Lorraine (Mosley Agin), though she is a child no more, now a mother writing feverishly in her journal; entries of torment, because her ancestral home has been haunted for as long as she can remember. She and her ten-year-old daughter, Emily (Charlee Marie), have nowhere else to live since a longtime relationship ended and the only place to go was back home, to a place of tragic memories. But apparently they’re not only memories, for in the eerie house, particularly her mother’s bedroom and, especially, the eaves, are where terrible events occurred years earlier.
Enter the Investigator (Taylor Foster), a paranormal specialist who promises Lorraine that she’ll do everything in her power to help rid the home of the shadows and spirits that refuse to leave. With her electronic “spirit box” turned on, and a serious yet caring demeanor, the work of expelling the ghosts begins. Young Emily has suffered too, and though her mother projects an in-control demeanor and tries to protect her child from the desperate situation, it’s soon clear that the pain of Lorraine’s past has revealed cracks in her story that must be dealt with and cleansed if anyone is to ever be safe here.
Harper (also played by Foster), her ex, who is either a caring and positive presence, or a disingenuous enabler, depending on the way and time you view her, soon visits and reveals a loyal affection for her stepdaughter, before being dismissed by Lorraine as quickly as she arrived. There are more pressing matters to be dealt with now than a possible family reunion, namely, how to end the incessant pounding on the walls, the doors randomly opening and slamming shut, and the appearance of oppressive shadows that are reflections of the past and mad manifestations of the present.
The investigator learns much more about her client and the torment she’s felt since her own mother ended it all in the darkened eaves upstairs. Will history keep repeating itself in this house of horror, or will answers be revealed to finally stop a generational threat that has inhabited these walls and the psyches of all inside for years? Sometimes the ghosts need to be chased away; sometimes they just need clarity to move on themselves. Other times, they never leave.
The two-act supernatural tale (with a short intermission) is a true nail-biter. They set you up pretty well for it too, with a pre-show tour for the small audience that highlights the reportedly truly haunted Nocturne Theatre. Whether you believe in such things or not, there have been many accounts from employees and patrons alike of four or more ghosts that call the theatre their permanent home,* After the spirited discussion, you’re ushered into the small black-box room of the upstairs LaBranche Stage, where the unsettling story soon begins.
The Eaves — no real spoilers here — has more edgy twists and turns than the 110 Freeway heading into Pasadena. Writer/director Meyer shows yet another side to his talents. He not only write/directs and often stars in the mainstage productions downstairs, but he’s also quite adept at creating a truly terrifying narrative in a smaller package. He does so in a very clever way here, telling and retelling the tale through flashbacks, and, shall we say, reinterpretations of both reality and the desire for reality. This Rashomon-style narrative reveal is perfect for a multi-layered ghost story and is well executed here.
Meyer also achieves success through yet another wonderful ensemble of actors.
As we’ve happily written several times this month, there have been an abundance of well-cast productions this spooky season, and this one is yet another example of how a great cast can take a fine work and elevate it even higher. A quartet of fine actors play about twice as many parts (sometimes they even play each other) as they chew through Meyer’s taut words with relish. The performances are all grounded, very important for a modern-day, supernatural tale to succeed, and the writer/director keeps them based in reality even though their situation is far from it.
In a trio of roles, primarily as the Investigator and Harper, Taylor effortlessly shifts between the two large parts with an invisible costume change and subtle but effective hairstyle adjustment, but mostly with her ability to change the tone and regionality of her voice. Playing Lorraine, Agin reveals a deeply textured and surprisingly varied portrayal of a person who exists in fear and sees things not always as they are. As the young daughter, Marie has a quiet and earnest demeanor that reveals real truth when living in a house with many issues. When she finally breaks out of her self-protective shell, it’s earned and emotionally believable. As the shadowy spirit and more (Dave Beaudrie), well, you’ll witness his shocking presence on stage and probably in your nightmares for some time to come.
Tech elements are all strong, and the small black-box space is deceptively layered to create multiple dimensions in a way that must be seen to understand. What, on first appearance, seems to be just one room soon reveals itself to be so much more. As dry ice keeps the room in a perpetual film of haze, the uneasiness of the narrative digs in even deeper. Jay Michael Roberts’ minimal design approach reveals maximum payoff.
Sound by Kelby Thwaits and engineered by Julia Vollstedt is a real standout here, with audience members nearly jumping out of their seats at various times due to the aural accompaniments that jolt the body and soul nearly as much as the physical appearances of shadows of the past do. Music, and especially sound effects, are always under the action, continuing to raise the tension, and the inclusion of well-timed echo in the second act reveals a hidden clue that will soon be fully revealed. Costuming by Nocturne stalwart Tanya Cyr nimbly covers the characters of both the real world and that plane inhabited by those who are unseen, until they’re shockingly revealed.
The only issues we noted that detract from the otherwise wonderful show feel like they can be dealt with without too much difficulty. During the second act of the play, music could be heard spilling in from below. It turns out there was a jazz show downstairs, from which songs filtered into the scary performance we were seeing up above. It proved a bit challenging to stay focused on the tale, but toward the end of The Eaves the intensity of the story ratcheted up so much that I blocked out the offending music entirely. The other issue is a brief visual one, and likely dependent on where you sit in the small theatre, where you might see a shadowy appearance or two on the back half of the stage before you’re intended to. An adjustment to scrim lighting might make this bleed-through matter disappear altogether.
HSLA highly recommends The Eaves if you favor truly scary, cerebral stories and don’t mind a jump scare or two that come out of nowhere (that’s why they’re called jump scares). This very chilling ghost story, in the end, proves to say as much about being human as it does about what might lie beyond. The Nocturne’s impresario, Meyer, adds yet another notch to his belt of quality storytelling, and the results are quite terrifyingly terrific.
by Thom Mills for Halloween Scene Los Angeles
at The Nocturne Theatre
324 North Orange Drive
Glendale, CA 91203
Tickets: $33.00-$55.00
Running now thru October 31
*It’s a tradition at all opening-night shows at the Nocturne to toast the ghost before the curtain rises. If you’re smart, you’ll hold your glass plenty high for all potential specters to see.
Note: The Eaves employs two casts for the production. You may see a partial or fully different ensemble than we did at our performance.
