Childhood is a short time that can last forever if you let it.

Beware! It’s snatching season until July in Terry Guest’s new play, Oak, now at Alleyway Theatre. One white girl named Amber (who the police, FBI, and media are all in a twizzle about) and several black girls, nameless in the press, have gone missing in this sleepy southern town and no one seems to know anything about it. Unless… could Odella be responsible? The beautiful enslaved woman who is said to have abandoned her baby and drowned in the creek while trying to escape her cruel owners? Does she now lure young girls into joining her in her watery grave, promising them everything they always wanted?

A young woman named Pickle, narrator of this ghost tale, asks these questions in the opening scene, while recounting the legend to the audience. All of 16 years old, Pickle is suffocating in her rain-drenched, claustrophobic, poverty-stricken town. If only she could escape and not be doomed to a low-paying job with no way out like her mother, Peaches. She and her little brother, Big Man, who towers over her, along with their cousin Suga and Peaches, speak to night-time fears of monsters and mayhem, and the daytime reality of living in a world that does not care about them. How do they navigate their reality and their worst nightmares? Can they escape the sense of dread that looms over them?

The four actors are all up to their tasks, with Ember Tate-Steele a standout as Pickle. She embodies the angst of the teenager, not still a child but not yet a woman. Her temper tantrums are spot-on, as anyone who has ever dealt with or been a 16 year old girl can attest. At the same time, her love and sense of commitment to her family is palpable, as she confronts the inner and outer demons that plague her. P. K Fortson is Big Man. He has the look and demeanor of a youth who loves his big sister, follows her around, sometimes rebelling, but also exhibits a very protective quality toward her. Nicely done. VerNia Sharisse Garvin is Peaches, a woman who has done her best to raise her two children without education or resources, while working a dead-end job. She commands the stage, with her big voice and intense maternal energy, cajoling, arguing, and begging her recalcitrant daughter to be careful out there. Does she truly feel she had no choices once she became pregnant? Hmmm. Dasia Cervi is Suga, who spars with Big Man and expresses terror that is truly frightening that she will be the next victim. 

Set in the round, the set by Justin Lahue gives off an eerie quality, with Spanish moss hanging overhead, and fog and the sound of rainstorms giving the setting a closed-in quality. The wall of posters of missing children is quite disturbing. Lighting and Sound by Emma Schimminger adds to the unearthly aspects, with blackouts, weird noises, whistling, and a pair of red eyes that foreshadow another snatching. There is one quick moment that is truly frightening and will be discussed no further here. Direction by Dawn M. Simmons keeps things moving along, while also allowing the sense of dread to increase as the 90 minute drama unfolds.

Terry Guest states in an interview that this is an autobiographical play, that the issues each character faces are ones that he dealt with in his youth. His character Peaches tells her children that “Childhood is a short time that can last forever if you let it.” A great line, yes?  Based on various Native American and Georgian myths, Southern Gothic is the foundation of the play, and while it meanders a bit from time to time, seeming like it is not quite sure where it is going, it is a compelling Gothic tale that also gets in some licks about institutional racism, marginalized people and the horrors they face.

Oak is a 90 minute play with no intermission at Alleyway Theatre through November 15th.