Whisper House at the Old Globe Theater brings you coming of age story set in a lighthouse that just may be haunted. It is in the middle of World war Two and a young boy named Christopher is sent to live with his aunt, a remote and self sufficient woman who has little experience with children. Christopher wants to go back to his mother who has suffered a mental collapse due to the untimely death of his father, a pilot who was shot down. His aunt runs the lighthouse she inherited from her father and runs it out of duty and her own lack of bravery to explore the world. She has a dedicated helper in a Japanese gentleman who Christopher immediately greets with suspicion and mistrust. The main narrators and strongest voices in the story belong to the mischievous ghosts who Christopher can see and hear. They use this power to alternately scare, comfort and cajole Christopher into action, whether it is for the best or not.
The performers in this cast are all excellent, and helped make the characters more then the caricatures that they could have become. Mr.Yasuhiro is played with all the quiet dignity and pride that an honorable gentleman would have in his situation. Played by Arthur Acuna, Yasuhiro is a character that strikes a chord with those watching and makes you wonder what happens to the character after the curtain falls. Lily is played with a quiet humor by Mare Winningham who was last seen in the world premier musical Bonnie and Clyde at the La Jolla Playhouse. Lily is a pragmatist and someone who does her duty, whether she wants to or not. She and Christopher circle each other with a wariness that stems from both the situation and the fact that they are strangers to each other. The ghosts performed by David Poe and Holly Brook bring a macabre joy to the havoc they wreck and David Poe especially makes being a ghost look like a lot of fun.
Whisper House is not a clear cut musical in the traditional way; it is more a play with music as the main mode of communicating. The ghosts are your narrators and use the songs to not only describe what is going on but also to help set the mood for the scenes between songs. While this play is set during World War Two the music is contemporary and has a definite rock vibe. It is a modern anachronistic touch that helps lend to the idea that the ghosts may be observing and interacting with the people in 1942 but that they have the ability to outlast any sense of linear time. The songs are clever, but you must listen very closely because there is a lot of information contained within them and if you miss it you may be a few steps behind. If you are a fan of Duncan Sheiks' Spring Awakening you will like the music in Whisper House.
The overarching theme to this show seems to be fear; what people may do to try to avoid being afraid and how you can’t let it stop you from living. Lily chooses to stay in the safety of her lighthouse even though she wished to explore the world, Christopher chooses to escape his fear of the war and the uncertainty of his fate by interacting with the ghosts, and the Sheriff chooses to see Yasuhiro as an enemy to be contained since he cannot do anything to contain the German U boats that may be out in the harbor. Fear can color your actions, but as Yasuhiro warns they should not "let fear make us foolish". The ideas of fear, loss and uncertainty can lead us to play it too safely and people end up isolating themselves and watching as life passes them by without ever living it. I think the song “The Tale of Solomon Snell” is a perfect example of this theme as the ghost’s caution, Snell “played it safe and it didn’t end well”.
It is interesting to see Christopher choose to be led by the ghosts, who he once feared and now seems to let them blindly spur him into foolish actions. He begins to have a hard time discerning what the truth is and what maybe a strange fantasy that is being encouraged by his ghostly companions. Since he is a child, Christopher is an interesting character to watch experience things he finds frightening; the war, his father’s death and the violence that may reach even the solitude of the lighthouse. Like most children he chooses safety in the fantasy world of the ghosts and lets that help him process everything that is going around him, even if the conclusions they lead him too may be erroneous. The ghosts are tied to the lighthouse for their own reasons, and I have to imagine that being stuck in a lighthouse for eternity would lead me to being a troublemaker as well, however why do the ghosts tempt Christopher into his actions? What is their gain? Is it only for the entertainment value? To teach him a lesson about the consequences of ones actions? Or purely to pass the time? Can they not move on from the lighthouse, or are they choosing this pale imitation of life out of fear of what may lay beyond?
The set is a deconstructed lighthouse with plenty of space around the edges that gives it the illusion of being isolated from everything else in the world. For the characters, the lighthouse is a prison, a sanctuary, a playground and sometimes all of the above at the same time. When the real world does intrude, it is a shock, not only to the characters but to the audience who has been lured into the world with them. The lighting is used to help tell the stories, add a touch of whimsy and to illustrate the tone of the scene as it unfolds. During one song you see the figures of people acting out the lyrics, in another Christopher is putting pieces of paper together and you see pieces of paper raining down from the sky. During “Play your part” you see fighter planes and films of wartime events projected on screen as propaganda as the ghosts convince Christopher he needs to do something about the situation he has overheard.
Whisper House is a very interesting piece of theater visually, emotionally and musically. It is not for the theatergoer who wants the tried and true musical experience. This musical explores an other-worldly way of looking at stressful situations and what people will do when they are afraid and sets it to music that you might enjoy at a concert or on the radio. It is a unique piece of theater that I highly recommend, because chances are you won't see anything like it anytime soon.
Whisper House is playing at The Old Globe Theater from January 13th – February 21st. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org , by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Globe’s Box Office in Balboa Park.
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