First off, thanks to the pre-show announcement, we were forewarned about the use of strobe lights, surprises, and maybe a jump scare as part of Oak, now onstage at Alleyway Theatre. Theatre Companion was thusly prepared when yours truly reacted thusly.

Terry Guest’s script is part allegory, part folk tale, and a reinterpretation of a scary fantasy. It’s beautifully steeped in the African storytelling tradition. What makes this so compelling is the quartet of actors under Dawn M. Simmons’ direction.

In brief, teens are being snatched – never to be seen again – and live under a tight curfew. Pickle is a girl with a dream, though, and she’s not beholden to the myths behind the invisible ‘snatcher’ who is spiriting teens away to the bottom of the swamp. Until she hears noises and sees things and finds a dear one has gone missing. The story is much more nuanced than that, but to share more would spoil your fun of discovery. This is a show that needs to ‘sit’ in your head awhile and is made even more vivid when you read the carefully crafted program notes, particularly the pages written by the eloquent Annette Daniels-Taylor, and details behind the scenic design by Justin Lahue. So cool. Spoiler alert: there are ciphers and puzzles in the Missing Child posters on the set and in the lobby and on Big Man’s library card. I wish I had known this when I was still in the house: Theatre Companion and I both like us some puzzles.

I was very taken by these actors: VernNia Sharisse Garvin as Peaches, the hard-working mom of a teen and a ‘tween. She was tired and loving and resigned to her life, and her face and voice carried all of this and more; Pickle (Ember Tate-Steele) is her strong willed eldest child who isn’t about to believe in the local legends orf let them get in the way of her plans. Tate-Steele delivers some fine monologues with passion and sass; P.K. Fortson does fine work as Big Man, Pickle’s little brother. It was a challenge to suspend belief that the tall man on stage was actually portraying a fidgety nine-year-old, but Fortson does it well; finally, Dasia Cervi is cousin Suga, another teen with a dream. I especially enjoyed Garvin’s return as the old lady with a shotgun, keeping watch on her porch. In this role, she meandered and reflected in a way that broke your heart and terrified you, too.

Lahue’s set fills the house and re-orients the stage similar to last season’s production of Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (which I loved). There was some fog rolling across the floor and some theatre magic, too, to add to the creepiness of the swamp.

Oak runs 90-minutes without an intermission until November 15. Snatch up your tickets now!