The legend of the Mothman originated in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, where between November 1966 and December 1967, locals reported sightings of a winged humanoid creature with huge, glowing red eyes. While skeptics argued that the sightings could be attributed to sandhill cranes or large owls, the incidents led to widespread fear and speculation, some believing it to be an extraterrestrial or supernatural entity. After the Silver Bridge collapsed into the Ohio River in December 1967, killing 46 people, theories arose that the Mothman was an omen of impending disaster.
The myth is the jumping-off point for Theatre NOVA’s world premiere of Amber Palmer’s In Search of the Mothman, the first production in an ambitious 2024–25 season (the company’s tenth) of six wholly original shows. The plot, set in the present day, concerns twenty-three-year-old Jordan, who after a series of tragedies quits her teaching job and impulsively relocates from her hometown of Tallahassee to Point Pleasant. She knows nothing about the town, but she’s fascinated by the Mothman legend. She leaves behind her 17-year-old sister, Emily, though she continues to manage Emily’s life from afar, proofreading her college applications and holding her to a rehearsal schedule. Emily is an aspiring professional bassoonist, Jordan an oboist; the girls have a Christmas tradition of performing together for their church.
Olivia Kiefer and Carolyn Pierce play sisters in Amber Palmer’s In Search of the Mothman, running at Theatre NOVA through Sun., Nov. 10. | Photo by Sean Carter
In a series of vignettes and monologues, the sisters reckon with their present and future, while the tragedies of the past are gradually revealed. There is little room for the narrative to sag; these young women have a lot going on, so much that it threatens to strain the play’s 90-minute runtime. There are questions of sexuality to wrestle with, relationships to navigate, auditions to plan for, traumas to process, dating profiles to refine, and even a dash of the supernatural. Given the sheer number of themes flying around, the significance of the Mothman gets a bit lost in the shuffle, coming back into focus only in the final few scenes.
The sisters are the only characters onstage, and their relationship carries the show. U-M student Carolyn Pierce is excellent as Emily, a sarcastic, insightful, wounded teenager whose expressive face shows every joy and disappointment her young life throws at her, as she struggles with insecurity and the potential loss of her sister. Olivia Kiefer has a more challenging role as her bossy, overachieving, avoidant adult sister, and despite having a lot to say, her Jordan remains something of an enigma.
The direction (by Shelby Seeley) as well as the set and props (by Paul Taylor and Briana O’Neal, respectively) make the most of the intimate space. Pierce and Kiefer are never more than ten feet from the audience, but rarely does the staging feel cramped or airless. Only in one scene did things start to get a bit tight, with audience members craning their necks to see the actresses’ faces. Jeff Alder’s creative lighting suggests a variety of different spaces, and Kennikki Jones-Jones’s sound design is subtle and effective, presenting Emily and Jordan as gifted musicians.
In Search of the Mothman is a meditation on the listlessness of young adulthood; of being borne back ceaselessly into the past; the feeling of being directionless, yet hopeful. Imperfect but thought-provoking, it’s an auspicious start for what promises to be a riveting season of theater at Theatre NOVA.
In Search of the Mothman runs through Sunday, November 10, 8 p.m. (Thurs.–Sat.) & 2 p.m. (Sun.), Theatre NOVA, 410 W. Huron St. Tickets $30 in advance at theatrenova.org & at the door. (734) 635–8450.
