Heading into Night

from March 22, 2023

Vital for Life

An Unforgettable Physical Comedy at Cherry Theatre

By Lyndsey Honor

In the wake of failing memory, have you truly lost yourself? Currently making its debut at the Cherry Artspace, “Heading into Night” explores the discoveries made through memory loss, giving the concept of forgetting a fresh new perspective.

Devised by Beth F. Milles and Daniel Passer, this play was cra ed non-traditionally. Instead of starting with a script, it was built from the ground up by a team dedicated to experimental theatre. is model of play development worked its magic for “Heading into Night,” organically building a world of endless discovery and re ection for the performer.

e show on March 18 was met with a full house. While there were only about 50 seats available, it was a breath of fresh air to see every one lled with masked but smiling faces eager to experience new theatre.

Gentle elevator music lulls the audience into the atmosphere as they wait for the show to begin. It opens on a minimalist stage: a blank canvas with only three wooden chairs. ere are white boxes scattered all over the space, but at rst glance, they seem to be for renovation purposes. It’s quickly revealed that they’re strategically placed, and they become important as the show progresses.

A creative mind behind and on the stage, Daniel Passer stars as the leading unnamed performer. e rst sequence of scenes moves with parallel structure. Passer enters the stage carrying one of the white boxes, sits on the middle chair, taps the top of and/or opens the box, watches as a bus stops, waits, and keeps driving—a metaphorical one brought to life with Cristian Amigo and Rob Natoli’s sound design—and runs o stage realizing he’s forgotten something. is scene is repeated a few times, placing emphasis on the show’s leading themes of memory and forgetfulness.

Passer’s 12 years of experience with Cirque du Soleil manifest in “Heading into Night’s clown artistry. His use of physical comedy, audience interaction and clowning help ease audiences into this style of performance, especially considering its lack of traditional script, dialogue and plot progression. e spatial relationship between Passer and Will DeVary—who appears as “the mover” throughout the show—is engaging and heartwrenching. DeVary’s purpose is to physically create chaos with the boxes, moving them all over the stage and creating confusion for the performer. However, the performer’s lost in their own mind, so having someone else around to remind them of moments lost in time (the boxes each holding di erent memories) is comforting in an unexpected way. e show’s physical comedy wouldn’t be complete without Amigo and Natoli’s sound design, Ashley Crespo’s lighting design, and Nils Hoover’s projections. Each memory gives the performer a certain response, complemented by a respective lighting and sound choice. e most compelling design elements presented themselves in moments of panic for the performer, where they’re trying to remember memories they’ve lost. e random use of strobe lights and loud noises could have come with a warning, but they were still e ective. e only lines of dialogue, outside of Passer’s comedically placed reactive sounds, appear in the show’s nal moments, giving voice to the performer as he nds solace in a life of fragmented memory. e haunting tune of Vera Lynn’s “We’ll Meet Again” pulls the audience out of the performer’s head as the metaphorical curtains close, a nal glimmer of promise for the performer’s aging mind. Accepting life as it comes and living in the moment can bring joy and growth unlike any other. If the performer’s discoveries aren’t proof enough, forgetting is not a loss. Instead, it gives the opportunity to explore new realities, nding yourself over and over again in the unknown.

DeVary plays the mysterious mover very well, providing both comedic relief and builtin set changes e ortlessly. He disguises himself in dark corners of the stage when he’s not active in a given scene, allowing him to appear and disappear without a trace. He draws attention without taking focus o Passer, which creates a strong character balance between the two.