To wrap up the 2025-26 season, Brandeis’ Theater Department took audiences on a calming nature retreat in the world of “Small Mouth Sounds,” a play about six people who engage in a week-long silent retreat. As the week progresses, the flaws of six retreatants are revealed, from extreme anxiety to selfishness and lust. I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a dress rehearsal for the show and saw it a couple of days before the first performance. Although it was a rehearsal, the show was impressively smooth, with minor hiccups that could easily be corrected by opening night. Seeing “Small Mouth Sounds” with a smaller audience elevated the experience, as the few people watching the retreatants felt even more connected with the characters and the experience of witnessing the silent retreat. There were even moments when  I paused before laughing at some of the jokes in the show because they felt like they would break the immersion. Thankfully, the director Samantha Richert Boehm broke the tension by laughing as well, reminding the reduced audience that, although some moments were distinctly serious, the show’s comedy is just as prominent. 

One comedic bit that lasts for the whole show is the voice of Teacher, voiced by Andie Cohen ’28. The teacher is the retreatants’ guide through the show, gathering the group between scenes and giving (somewhat) helpful life advice. Cohen did an impressive job with Teacher’s voice, conveying an impressive range of emotion without being seen by the audience. The Teacher’s accent had the other audience members and me consistently laughing, and it was always exciting to see what new, strange advice The teacher would give next. Near the end of the show, however, is Teacher’s most impressive moment. After spending the retreat giving advice and attempting to “walk the walk” as she puts it, Teacher finally breaks down. She calls out the retreatants for simply taking the retreat so they can go home and say they tried to heal themselves without actually doing anything. This monologue feels directed not only toward the actors on stage, but also toward the audience, begging everyone to put in the work to change themselves instead of simply assuming change will happen to them. The fourth wall felt effectively broken, in part because of how small the audience was at my performance — it was easier to believe that the retreat was actually a 12-person retreat, with six of us in the dark, watching. Since Teacher is just an overhead voice, there was more time for the audience to see the actors’ reactions. Each character was played to perfection and I wish I could have gone six times to focus on a different character each time. 

However, Teacher was not the only ‘guru’ in the show. Ruben Seaman ’29 played Rodney, a fairly quiet man who, at first glance, seems to be buried deep in spiritual soul-searching. As soon as he stepped on stage, he sat in a criss-cross-applesauce position and started meditating, showing how invested he was in the retreat. While the other attendees were trying to get settled in the woods, Seaman seemed perfectly content with his surroundings, adding clear contrast to the other characters in the show. This was best showcased when, seeing the lake, Seaman proceeded to dramatically rip off his pants and shirt and run off to “dive” into the lake, much to the shock of Judy, portrayed by Rimas Youssef ’29, and Joan, portrayed by Eden Kates ’29. 

Youssef and Kates have a great dynamic in this show, playing a couple that is facing problems in their relationship. Kates starts the retreat by looking extremely excited and invested in what Teacher is talking about—self-fulfillment, enlightenment, etc.— while Youssef appears to have been dragged along. She is on her computer sending work emails even though there is supposed to be no technology at the retreat, and the couple silently fights about directions while walking around the forest. It all comes to a head when Youssef reveals she found Kates’ “intention,” a slip of paper each person on the retreat had to write on the first day. Kates brilliantly switches from enthralled with the retreat to frustrated and upset, trying to explain why her “intention” was to “be free.” Youssef also switches, becoming more invested in following the rules of the retreat in her frustration with Kates, not responding to anything Kates is saying. Their fight in the tent was captivating, and it was challenging to decide whose side of the argument to be on.

Paul Weir ’26 brought another invested character to life through Ned, like Rodney is invested in the retreat, nervously trying to follow every rule and still making mistakes, such as saying “good morning” on the second day of the silent retreat. Weir’s performance hits new heights during his monologue, asking the Teacher a question. From the start of the play, we are instructed not to tell Teacher our life stories. In attempting to avoid telling his life story, Ned inadvertently talks about every terrible accident and coincidental mistake that has happened to him throughout his life. Weir performed the monologue brilliantly, at first making the audience laugh because he’s breaking the rules. Then, as it continues, the audience gets sucked in, at some points laughing simply because of how absurdly tragic Ned’s life story is. Weir was so serious while giving this monologue that it helped ground the ridiculous series of events that brought Ned to the retreat.

Kieran Van Hooser ’29 played the extremely quiet and nervous Jan. Since Jan Hooser is the one character who almost never speaks, he had many small physical gags throughout the show that were entertaining, including the never-ending pain of mosquitoes, falling asleep during one of Teacher’s presentations and attempting to stealthily eat some nuts outside of the dining area. When Van Hooser finally speaks at the end of the show, it is revealed that Jan does not speak English, but was able to communicate because everyone was forced to be silent. As everyone leaves at the end of the show, Van Hooser is left standing on stage trying to figure out how to get to the ocean. It was a somewhat sad moment, watching as the people with whom Jan had made connections simply walked back to their lives, leaving Jan unsure where to go next. 

The show’s most confident character, Alicia, was played by Katherine Bulthuis ’27. As Bulthuis comes on stage in a bright pink costume reminiscent of “Mean Girls,” she feels particularly out of place compared to the rest of the characters. It takes a long time for Alicia to feel comfortable in the environment, carrying her giant pink bag around and trying at every moment to connect to cell service. On the first night, as Bulthuis is eating chips from a bag, the sound was so loud that the audience could not help but laugh. Bulthuis and Seaman share a tender moment after Alicia has a panic attack in the woods, which is one of the few moments that Alicia’s character lets down her guard during the retreat, and Bulthuis was able to capture the difference in Alicia’s energy subtly yet clearly.

“Small Mouth Sounds” was a wonderful way to end the theater season. Given that the play has so little dialogue, I was hooked by every action on stage and was able to see the effort each actor put into pantomiming and communicating without words. The care from everyone on the team was on full display during the dress rehearsal, with clear communication between the director and stage manager Eliana Lippman ’27 and everyone in the cast. The set and costumes for “Small Mouth Sounds” were also incredibly unique, with a huge number of costume changes made possible only by the relaxed pace of the scene transitions. It was great to see some behind-the-scenes action as the show began, emphasizing the teamwork and camaraderie that went into building such a beautiful show. Congratulations to everyone involved in this final performance.