The Serpent

The most rewarding quality of theatre is its ability to integrate old stories with modern events, all while innovating the idea of what a play truly is. The Serpent, written by Jean-Claude van Itallie, is no exception to this quality. The show is an experimental theatre piece that is heavy in movement with limited text. The storytelling of four female narrators weaves events from the sixties, such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, and stories from the book of Genesis, such as Adam and Eve and their sons, Cain and Abel, together. I saw the Nebraska Repertory Theatre’s production, directed by Wesley Broulik, on November 8th at 7:30 pm. I appreciated all of the work that went

The format of The Serpent is a collection of scenes instead of a linear story with constant characters, so it’s difficult to single one actor’s performance out and analyze it. Instead, I am going to focus on the specific scenes and the spectacular acting within them. Perhaps the most striking scene of the show and the arguable centerpiece is the story of Adam and Eve. There are countless striking performances that can be singled out in this scene. Probably the most impressive performance in this scene was Beck Damron’s Adam. One of the clearest memories I have of this performance is Damron’s descent into madness as Adam takes a bite of the forbidden fruit himself. Adam goes from frustrated to complete insanity as he tries to get the apple out of his mouth, eventually shredding it. Damron was not a human on the stage in that moment; he completely channeled the movements and mannerisms of an animal. I was extremely impressed with the physicality of this scene. One standout moment was

During the yoga warm-up pre-show portion, the actors wore modern workout clothes, which was a little jarring when they shed the clothes for their actual costumes in front of the audience. Each actor wore a different variation of a bodysuit, some outfitted in one pieces, and others in two pieces. None of the actors wore shoes. One of the major differences came in the coloring of the costumes. The costumes of the four female narrators and the actors that played Cain and Abel were gray, while the rest of the cast were dressed in autumnal colors, like yellow and orange. The color choice could have simply been an effort to differentiate the larger roles from the ensemble. It could have also been symbolic; perhaps the gray symbolized the sins of the characters or perhaps it signified their awareness of a higher power. The costuming, while simple, holds a higher symbolic power, like most other design aspects of this