Review: OAK at Urbanite Theatre

Making its World Premiere, OAK is presented at our own Urbanite Theater. When entering the black-box space random hip-hop music is playing, but on closer observance, everything is placed with intention. The mix of music used throughout the story, from old TLC through Tyla’s current Billboard hit Water, made it hard to place what time this story is set, the 90’s, 2020’s? The elusiveness of this is effective, as this could be any southern town, even today. Playwright Terry Guest, a 3-time Jeff Award winner, expands his talents with this Southern Gothic Horror that was commissioned by Urbanite Theatre in 2020 and was created and designed specifically with the Sarasota audience in mind.

In a small town in Georgia, children and teenagers (the cut off is age 16) are being kidnapped and a newly implemented curfew is not bringing comfort to anyone. Yellow alarms with a voice over asking “Do you know where your children are?”, is interspersed to break up the few days of which OAK’s story takes place. We are told again and again that it is “Snatching Season”, at least through July! What a strange concept, that in OAK is perfectly normalized, as was the concept of slavery in this same state. Reading between the lines one can extract many layers of symbolism and as I thought about this work, I could see so many from the obvious class struggle, to the holding onto innocence in childhood, to the loss of that innocence being snatched or stolen, what does it means to be successful? or how easy is it to change your life situation? what is freedom? How do family values lord over your life choices and the sacrifices you will make in the name of those values? and….The list can go on.

OAK handles heavy topics and a rather poignant story with interspersed humor and the laughter that accompanies the telling of a tale by children. The legend of “The Swamp Monster” that is snatching children is the focus and blame of all the havoc that is wreaked every year, year after year. “Pickle” played by Trezure B. Coles, the start of the show, leads us through from disbelief of a tall tale, to the actuality of the monster snatching her—and letting you know this dear reader will by no means ruin the story for you.

OAK is playing at the Urbanite Theatre through June 30th. Tickets are still available at https://www.urbanitetheatre.com/oak, but with limited availability, so snatch up your tickets while you can!

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