Theatrical productions should be approached with an open mind. There are times when a play’s subject may be a topic that we are not accustomed to, something that at first we may not even be comfortable with. When that happens, it is the responsibility of the playwright to create a work that allows the audience to put its guard down and slowly buy into the storyline. That is what happened to me when I saw Black Spectrum Theatre’s production of “Timeless, The Mystery of the Dark Water.” The play by Carl Clay, who is also Black Spectrum’s founder and executive producer, dealt with a unique topic —the possibility of people being reincarnated. But Clay’s script allowed me to get comfortable with the idea. This play dealt with the belief that life is continual, and that people have connections to their past lives through dreams and can be hypnotized to recall those dreams and realize their past connections with people in their present lives.
Is this life all there is? This idea is something that I never truly took the time to consider. Clay creatively put the idea together as a man named Kyle is being questioned by detectives about the murder of a woman named Mya, a psychologist he had been dating. Mya’s specialty is regression therapy, in which she takes people to their past lives by hypnosis. She realizes during her regressing of Kyle that she has a real connection to him. Her realization deepens with every regression, because he talks about things that she is aware of regarding her own past life.
Mya realizes that not only are she and Kyle connected but also Kyle has a connection to his best friend Mel and a bartender at a local bar they go to. Mya becomes increasingly fearful as she learns more, because she realizes that in a past life she was killed, and she will be killed again. She even has an idea of who will kill her, but because in reincarnation you come back a completely different person, she is not certain who will be her killer in this life. This story line may sound a bit confusing in some ways, but if you were sitting there you would know that it’s actually not. If anything, it’s a thrilling who-done-it. In fact, it’s so successful a who-done-it that at intermission the audience was asked to vote on who they thought the murderer was and none picked the right person. This play was very interesting and extremely entertaining. But, more than that, because it approached this subject in such a comfortable way, it really left me questioning whether reincarnation could be true, whether it could be possible. And if it is, how does that work in with what I was taught growing up, that each of us only has one life and one time on this Earth? This play is thought provoking. If Black Spectrum does it again, try to go and see it. Do it in this lifetime, don’t try to wait for the next.
The story could not have been executed without a talented cast. Kudos to the performers who included Reginald L. Barnes as Kyle, LisaRoxanne Walters as Mya, Pharoah King Champion as Mel, Sean C. Turner as Det. Johnson, Douglas Wade as Det. Po, David Ffrench as the bartender and Edythe Jason as Mrs. Bridges. The production had captivating direction by Bette Howard.
Black Spectrum Theatre, located in Roy Wilkins Park at 117th Street and Baisley Boulevard, is a theatrical oasis in Queens and a place that should be supported and appreciated. For information about future productions visit, www.blackspectrum.com or call 718-723-1800″718-723-1800.