Review: THE CRY OF THE PEACOCK at Batesville Community Theatre Blurs The Lines Of Reality

Getting you ready for the Halloween season, the Batesville Community Theatre, 1295 E Main St, in Batesville, posed the question: Who or what killed Mary? This query was addressed in THE CRY OF THE PEACOCK, Thursday & Friday, Oct. 20-21, and Sunday, Oct. 23, to a very perplexed audience that, I'm sure, was discussing it during their drive home. It had all of the psychological thriller elements: suspense, monsters, and the killing of a young girl. It was disturbing and brilliant at the same time.

Written by Billy W. Boone and directed by Colyn Bowman, this story is focused on Mary Blanton (Hope Sharp/Emily McMasters-voice), who has suffered from some sort of abuse, which is evident in her Nightmares/Monsters (Andrew Lane, Nicki Williams, Westley Gibbs, Sammatha Knight, Katie Janke, and Joshua Narramore) and scratches on her neck and back. But who are the real monsters in Mary's life? From the start of the show, Dr. Todd (Brandt McDonald) is going up against the Judges (Joshua Narramore & Nightmares) defending his treatment of Mary Blanton, who was ultimately killed by her Nightmares-or was she? Back and forth they go from questioning Dr. Todd to showing the events that took place.

Mary's teacher Stephanie Cooper (Charlie Ann Wade) concerns herself with Mary's wellbeing, and wants to befriend her. Mary's parents Chase Blanton (Stephen Norris) and Beth Blanton (Rebecca Ward) are also concerned, however, Dr. Todd suspects her father and insists he leaves the house until his investigation is done. The only real (or imaginary) friend Mary seems to have is Charlie-the blue peacock (Tyler Sarracino). He is there to protect Mary from the Nightmares, and even though he gets killed by bullies Caleb and Mason (Colyn Bowman-voices), he still comes around to take care of Mary, until Dr. Todd prescribes her pills that take Charlie away. When Charlie disappears and the father is out of the house, the Nightmares/Monsters end up killing Mary-or so the story goes.

With not knowing what was real and what wasn't real, this play really had you guessing in a very scary way. The storytelling was engaging, but cryptic. They make you believe in monsters-whether it be the ones under your bed or the real ones in our lives. With everyone's characters seeming nice and concerned, it was hard to believe that any of them were the monsters that was after Mary. Were the monsters real? Or was it someone who Mary actual knew who were the monsters? Or....was Mary's monsters in her head the whole time? Or....I don't know....I'm guessing. I appreciated how McDonald's interpretation of Todd had him grasping at reality in a fragile way, and I felt his sincerity in taking blame for taking away Mary's security, albeit in her head.

The costumes were awesome. The Nightmares were all unique and frightening. The lighting was moody and changed colors when bad things were happening. It was all very ominous, which added to the eeriness of the show. And I'll say that sitting on the edge of the isle while the Nightmares came parading through the audience had me a little nervous, until I knew they weren't going to get us.

Coming up next is DISNEY's ARISTOCATS KIDS on November 12th. Check out their website at bctarkansas.com for more information.