Phantom Theater presents ‘Dolls in My Pocket’

October 30, 2024  |  By Kate Youngdahl Stauss

Advertisements from 1930s magazines provide clues to a hidden history in 'Dolls in My Pocket.' Courtesy photo

For much of the last decade, Keryn Nightingale has brought a fantastical lens to her personal narratives. This Saturday she’ll once again turn to an archetypal story to illuminate her own life when she performs “Dolls in My Pocket” at the Big Picture Theater at 7 p.m. in Waitsfield.

“Dolls” is based on the Russian folktale, “Vasilia the Brave.” In it a young woman is guided by a magic doll passed down from her mother. Trapped by the terrifying witch Baba Yaga, Vasilia must complete a series of difficult tasks, eventually earning the lantern of her ancestors and a way out of the darkness. 

This intriguing tale intersects Nightingale’s own as a story of generational trauma. “Most of us are carrying old instincts that direct us subtly and not so subtly, yet we have no idea why,” the playwright said.

In Nightingale’s case, those inherited patterns meant bewildering bouts of worry. Fortunately, she found a key to recovery stashed away on a shelf at home: a forgotten book full of coded family history. “In 1933, my Great Aunt Bertha made my grandmother a book for her 18th birthday,” she said. 

With illustrations cut from magazines, the 140-page text is “freakin’ frightening,” according to Nightingale. Still, Bertha’s intent was to protect her youngest sister. “They were secret keepers. My grandma and her five sisters were so close and went through so much together.” Excavating that hidden history became Nightingale’s own difficult – but fruitful – Vasilian task. 

The legendary Baba Yaga looms darkly over Keryn Nightingale's latest production. Courtesy photo

The third in a trilogy of plays, “Dolls” features many of the production values of its predecessors, “On the Road with an Oxymoron” and “What’s His Name?” In other words, there will be Barbies! But not as many. 

Much of this show’s visual elements come instead from Great Aunt Bertha’s birthday book. Vintage adverts suggest a carefree life for early 20th-century women, but the truth in the subtext is much darker. 

“I’ve been in the Black Forest of my mind since Covid,” Nightingale noted. “These are old stories. Women are finally coming out with their lanterns.” With this production, she feels she too has found a path out of the woods. 

Appropriately for a show featuring ghosts, witches and magic dolls, “Dolls in My Pocket” debuts on Día de Muertos and there will be a Day of the Dead altar set up in the Big Picture lobby. People are welcome to bring in an object or memento to honor a departed loved one. 

A co-production of Phantom Theater and the Big Picture Theater, “Dolls in My Pocket” is the second of three Winter Series Phantom shows. 

Tickets: $20. Find more information and purchase advance tickets online at phantomtheater.org.

Kate Youngdahl Stauss is a board member with Phantom Theater.