Silence says everything in COPA’s performance of ‘Small Mouth Sounds’
While the title suggests that this is a quiet theater performance, the story of six individuals in “Small Mouth Sounds” is a timeless piece that loudly preaches the meaning behind human connection. Photo by EMILY PARIS, Photo Editor
In the medium of theater, where voices project to balconies and monologues spill the contents of a character’s soul, sometimes the most powerful tool is silence. “Small Mouth Sounds” takes silence to the next level, hardly using any dialogue and relying on the menial noises that emit from the six main characters’ mouths — breathing, grunting and screaming.
For part-time adjunct faculty and director Gregg Brevoort, he knew he needed to work on this play the moment he read it.
“The play raises all kinds of challenges,” Brevoort told The Panther. “I’m curious as to why each of these six individuals needs to be there and the variety of their reasons. It pretty much touches (on) all of the various phases that we go through or crises that we have, so that personal journey of each of them interests me in a great way.”
“The play raises all kinds of challenges. I’m curious as to why each of these six individuals needs to be there and the variety of their reasons. It pretty much touches (on) all of the various phases that we go through or crises that we have, so that personal journey of each of them interests me in a great way.”
On Oct. 6, 7, 12, 13 and 14, Chapman University’s College of Performing Arts (COPA) will put on a performance of the play, written by Bess Wohl. “Small Mouth Sounds” follows six individuals running away from the distress and agony of modern life, looking for answers. In the overwhelming quiet of the woods, these strangers embark on a silent yoga retreat to confront their profound and absurd internal demons while their vows of silence collide with the achingly human need to connect.
Besides the regular challenges of putting on a play for a large audience, the lack of dialogue is both a calling card and a challenge. Everything — the plot, backstory and character relationships — is told through the movements of actors with little to no words coming out of their mouths. The exception is a character called The Teacher who we never see but speaks all their lines from offstage. This forces the actors to rely on physical chemistry and bodily movements to fully express their characterization.
Sophomore theater performance major Ricardo Alzetta, who plays the role of Ned, one of the students of the retreat, was incredibly excited about the opportunity to work with the cast nonverbally.
“I was excited to explore my character’s physicality and explore how the physicality of other characters affects mine — that back and forth and those conversations we have in complete silence,” Alzetta said.
Brevoort was up for the challenge of directing a mostly silent set of characters. “Small Mouth Sounds” is a very script-heavy text, but not in dialogue. The script gives extensive background for the characters, leaving the actors and director with a plethora of information that may or may not be communicated through movement and facial expressions.
“It leaves room for the audience to kind of project what they think that person’s backstory is or what they think is the interaction between two characters,” Brevoort said. “So, there’s a lot of room for the imagination of the audience, which, to me, is crucial to a good theatrical event anyway.”
“It leaves room for the audience to kind of project what they think that person’s backstory is or what they think is the interaction between two characters. So, there’s a lot of room for the imagination of the audience, which, to me, is crucial to a good theatrical event anyway.”
The most rewarding part of “Small Mouth Sounds” for Alzetta was how he changed as a person and a performer throughout the rehearsal process.
“It’s the spiritual journey that my character goes through and that I, as an actor, go through,” Alzetta said. “There were a few moments during rehearsal where The Teacher was giving a lecture or words of wisdom, and I felt that affect me as a human being, which in turn began to affect the character.”
Kendyll Conlisk, a sophomore technical theater major and stage manager for Small Mouth Sounds, encourages the audience to look past the surface of the premise and embrace the underlying themes of the play.
“I always just thought: ‘Oh, it's a silent retreat where they're not talking,’ but I think it's just trying to find your voice without using your voice,” Conlisk said.
While the play was written before the COVID-19 pandemic, its themes of life, loneliness and the people who change us along the way resonate with the effects of isolation and the reflection experienced during the pandemic, making “Small Mouth Sounds” especially relevant in 2023.
“I guess it’s a good test of a play that it does have a sort of timelessness about it,” Brevoort said. “The blanket statement might be that each of their lives are somewhat out of balance and that they’re looking for a way to get back. So I think it speaks to everyone, especially when the world couldn’t be more out of balance. If we can find some (balance), if we can breathe and we can find some center, then that's a good thing.”
Tickets are available for purchase on the Chapman Events webpage. Tickets range from $10 to $20, and selections are limited. The show plays on Oct. 6, 7, 12, 13 and 14 at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 7 will have an additional performance at 2 p.m.
“I guess it’s a good test of a play that it does have a sort of timelessness about it. The blanket statement might be that each of their lives are somewhat out of balance and that they’re looking for a way to get back. So I think it speaks to everyone, especially when the world couldn’t be more out of balance. If we can find some (balance), if we can breathe and we can find some center, then that’s a good thing.”