Review: “Low Skies Divine” with Source Material

Samantha Shay and Áslaug Magnúsdóttir in the live performance on which this piece is based, Monument (or, King Lear), presented by Source Material in 2019 at Bootleg Theatre in LA and HERE Arts Center in NYC. (Photo: Juliette Rowland)

“Low Skies Divine” is an audio-only theatrical experience created by Samantha Shay and Áslaug Magnúsdóttir that uses the musicality of Shakespeare and Shay’s own childhood memories to create an entirely new theatrical experience. The piece is described by Source Material as a “kinesphere of music, language, and time-traveling emotions… Excavating the deep wounds of personal and intergenerational trauma, the heavenly disorientation of healing, and dreams of future memories, Low Skies Divine catapults the audience into a blurred narrative that conjures a multiplicity of meaning within the listener, where memories are personified and live within us.” Taking advantage of the audio-only format Source Materials’ “Low Skies Divine” achieved that and then some with this new production.

A barrier that often comes up with audio-only productions is the lack of physical space. Part of a great theatrical experience is being in the same space and seeing that you are in that space with someone else. Even if it’s a Zoom room, you are still all occupying that digital space together. With an audio show, you create the space from the ground up and rely on the listener to do the same. You hope that they are sitting quietly with little distractions and not washing dishes or doing homework while listening. “Low Skies Divine” created an incredible space for the listener’s imagination to place themselves in. I could see vast and empty space and feel the emptiness both within the characters and within their space.

The performances by Samantha Shay and Annelise Lawson are excellent. Feeling almost like ASMR at times, they manage to take Shakespeare’s poetic language and mold it with this auditory experience in a way that really sucks you in not just to what they’re saying but how the piece sounds. If you didn’t register a single line of what they were saying you would still be moved by the way the language is used as music, coupled with the actual music and choral singing. The presence and importance of each sound are felt and the whole experience feels like being wrapped up in a blanket of sound. The show lulls you, maybe not to a sense of calm, as there are many moments far from calm, but a sense of openness to welcome whatever emotional responses arise from one sound after the other.

One moment in particular that stuck out to me was towards the middle of the experience, we hear what appears to be a guided meditation of sorts in the background. You’re almost invited to participate. It being only audio makes the whole thing feel like you are listening to some sort of meditation podcast and adds an extra layer of imerssivness to the whole thing. Another aspect that stuck out was anytime the choir came in. There were many moments where I could feel the singers closing in and images of a choir surrounding our main character and getting closer and closer were brought up. Again, what’s so lovely about this show is it creates emotions and sensations but invites you to produce images.

“Low Skies Divine” takes advantage of its audio-only medium in some really lovely ways and uses Shakespeare’s text to create an experience all on its own. Despite being based on a fully staged show the company had put on, Shay and Magnúsdóttir did a fantastic job of making this piece stand out in its own right.

“Low Skies Divine” was produced with Source Material and created by Samantha Shay & Áslaug Magnúsdóttir.

It features voice acting by Samantha Shay and Annelise Lawson.

It runs April 23-May 9 on Zoom Tickets are available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/low-skies-divine-tickets-14674332623.