What Happened When 

Reviewed by Lara J. Altunian 
Echo Theater Company 
Through August 23 

RECOMMENDED 

Daniel Talbott’s What Happened When turns the ghost story genre on its head by encompassing the typical elements of death, spirituality, and otherworldly presences, but setting them in the background of a piece focused on living characters. The play, which is being revisited by Echo Theater Company after its West Coast premiere in April, explores the extreme consequences of growing up in an abusive and negligent home without presenting as a disingenuous sob story. Rather, it focuses on the difficulty of surviving hopeless-seeming situations and the scars that are developed once a person is forced to walk down life’s path alone.

The setup is simple—three siblings are huddled together on a bed in an old farmhouse. Cold and afraid, the younger two listen to their older brother Will (Joey Stromberg) tell them a happy story about their future success and all of the ways in which their lives will improve once they are free to leave their parents’ home. The next day, their optimism has worn off and the youngest, Jimi (Ian Bamberg), is too depressed to leave the house or go to school. Will and their sister Sam (Libby Woodbridge) attempt to comfort him while confronting their own personal issues.

As times goes by, their situation is complicated by a tragic chain of events. The three begin to unravel in unexpected ways as they are literally haunted by specters from their past.

The play’s power comes from the dialogue, and Stromberg, Woodbridge, and Bamberg’s strong on-stage chemistry. Words like “abuse,” “rape,” and “trauma” are never outwardly spoken by the characters, but context clues in the siblings’ natural-sounding conversations confirm the audience’s suspicions. The horror of what they are forced to endure comes through in their unwillingness to label their parents’ actions, further punctuated by their silent stares and knowing looks.

Amanda Knehan’s scenic design invites viewers further into the unbearable web of the characters’ lives with an intimate, small-scale set that features chairs spilling directly into the actors’ performance space. Rose Malone’s creepy blinking light fixtures keep the atmosphere from feeling cozy, while Chris Fields’ direction results in the casts’ shadowed figures shifting in dim light, amping up the eeriness in each segment.

What Happened When is a different tale of demons and spirits. The use of supernatural components creates a sense of magic realism that boosts the terror of the siblings’ problems, while its strong emotional pull ensures that the ghost of this play will stay with the audience for a long while after their summer cast’s final bow.

Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave., Atwater Village; Tues.-Thurs., 8 p.m.; through Aug. 23. (310) 307-3753 or https://dime.io/events/what-happened-when. Running time: one hour and 10 minutes with no intermission.