Everything that surrounds the core of Marin Theatre Company’s U.S. premiere of Canadian playwright Kat Sandler’s “Yaga”—including the alluring title itself—is beautifully evocative, from the imaginative lobby display to scenic designer Carlos Aceves’ distressed magical-forest set, to the often-spooky musical score by the show’s director, Barbara Damashek.
The witchy black costumes by Meg Neville work. So does the moody lighting by Kurt Landisman.
Even the cover illustration on the program—of a falling-apart wooden shack on chicken legs—adds to the atmosphere of folktale/supernatural horror that the play seems to promise.
But the core elements—Sandler’s lengthy, repetitious script and two-thirds of the three-person cast, all of whom play several roles—fall short.
The title refers to Baba Yaga, a figure from Slavic folklore—imagined as either a hideous, evil witch or a helpful old woman—who lives in the forest in a shack mounted on chicken legs. Played by the wonderful Julia McNeal, she is an ongoing supernatural presence in various guises.
When a young student, Henry (Adam KuveNiemann), goes missing, the little town where he lives springs into action. An independent detective (KuveNiemann again) arrives from the big city, determined to help the local police (Rachel Clausen) find him.
We meet the young student early on. A podcaster who’s obsessed with serial murders, he hopes to get information on them from a surprisingly seductive local professor who specializes in bones (McNeal).
Over the course of almost three hours (with intermission) we follow the search for the missing Henry. Was he kidnapped? Is he dead?
But, and this is often a problem with thrillers, do we care? The search goes on and on, and we learn lots about the Yaga myth, and there are lots of (fairly unconvincing) heterosexual encounters, but the show is too long, and the plot is confusing.
The other problem is that KuveNiemann and Clausen, as directed by Damashek, play most of their roles cartoonishly; only McNeal consistently digs deep into her set of mysterious characters. (Marin Theatre, in its promotional material, describes the play as “hilarious,” and despite some feeble efforts on Sandler’s part and the actors’ strained attempts at funny characterizations, no, it’s not.)
Without giving too much away, the idea of the existence of sisterhoods of powerful witches taking revenge on men presumably throughout eternity—even though they find men sexually irresistible—is intriguing.
If only that concept, and various other ideas that pop up along the way, were explored more fully. If only humor weren’t awkwardly shoehorned into what wants to be, and almost is, an intensely dramatic work.
Marin Theatre Company’s “Yaga” continues through Nov. 3 at 397 Miller Ave., Mill Valley. Tickets are $30-$72 at marintheatre.org.
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