Review: “Icons/Idols: In the Purple Room” at The New Ohio Theatre

Photo by Diego Quintanar. Set design by Afsoon Pajoufar

With book and lyrics by Helen Banner and music by Grace Oberhofer, “Icons/Idols: In The Purple Room” follows “the young Athenian orphan Irene (Kay Weber) into the heart of Byzantine power as tensions between religious and political factions threaten to rupture an empire…where power is fought over and exchanged, the mighty can be destroyed, and fragile bodies attempt to channel the divine.”  Audience members are guided from room to room and told the story through incredible music and voice acting. We follow Irene as she hides her religious idol from her new royal family and the consequences of having such an item in her possession and sharing it with her young son. Each moment is more heartbreaking than the last and it is all somehow done without a single actor present.

For anyone nervous about experiencing live theatre again in the time of COVID, do not worry. “In the Purple Room” does not have a single actor present during the performance. The whole show is prerecorded and guides you through various set pieces, placing you in the middle of the moments without anyone having to be there with you. In order to do this successfully, the atmosphere created by the voice actors and music has to be close to perfect. And each actor and singer in “In the Purple Room” captured the tensions, fears, and joys of these characters beautifully. It not only kept me engaged in the story but breathed life into an otherwise empty space. Kay Weber as Irene specifically, drew you in with their deep love, desperation, and honesty as Irene must navigate the impossible.

The set pieces designed by Afsoon Pajoufar in this play are stunning. As you walk from location to location it feels as if you are walking through an art exhibition. Some, like the Purple Room, are lavish and detailed, with eyes blinking on two screens over a blood-soaked bed and others are frightfully simple like the shattered clay of the broken icon sitting alone in a corner. With the narrative accompanying each one, their meaning is revealed gradually as you move through the room and each reveal is more exciting than the next.

One thing that is always a struggle with this kind of theatre is making sure people understand the rules. When you leave audiences to their own devices you better have a clear path for them to travel on and clear instructions for how to do so. The instructions in this piece were incredibly clear. The instructions are presented naturally in the story and the assistant in the room accounts for any slight misunderstanding. Audiences will not feel lost walking through this piece.

The story, while clearly beautiful and moving, felt bogged down by detail at times. There were moments, particularly towards the end, where so much detail was being thrown our way that without any physical action to observe it was hard to keep track of it all. The play’s best moments were the small intimate scenes where it was just a few characters talking and working through these insurmountable situations in very honest and tragic ways. This, coupled with the set pieces and the absence of actors, gave the impression that we were experiencing a memory. Existing in a place while the ghosts of a conversation long concluded whispered in our ears.

I overall very much enjoyed “In the Purple Room”. The acting was very well done, the story captivating, and the set pieces were like works of art. Despite at times feeling overloaded with information, I still walked away from the piece invigorated by the innovations made in a time when innovation in the theatre is not just an idea, it’s a necessity.

“Icons/Idols: In the Purple Room by the Byzantine Choral Project is presented live at the New Ohio Theatre (154 Christopher St #1E, New York, NY 10014) April 30-May 22nd.

Book and Lyrics by Helen Banner

Installation Design by Afsoon Pajoufar

Sound Design by Grace Oberhofer and Nathan Leigh

Produced by Emily Caffery

Music by Grace Oberhofer

Music Direction by Robert Frost

Audio Engineering by Nathan Leigh

Technical Direction by Sean T. McGrath

Featuring: Hilary Asare, Iris Beaumier, Isabella Dawis, Hannah Eakin, Julia Izumi, Grace Oberhofer, Lukas Papenfusscline, Shanta Parasuraman, Yael Shavitt, and Kay Weber

With songs performed by Iris Beaumier, Isabella Dawis, Hannah Eakin, Grace Oberhofer, Lukas Papenfusscline, Shanta Parasuraman, Yael Shavitt, and Kay Weber