I did something the other night as an audience member that I don’t think I’ve ever done before. The lights went down at the end of an amazing play, then came up again on one performer (Emily Howard) beaming in a way they hadn’t done as a character, so I started clapping and rolled to my feet. I rarely participate in standing ovations because I think they should be rare accolades, but Kat Sandler’s Yaga deserved it.

And then — the plot which had kept me guessing all night had one more twist – the play wasn’t over. There was a reason why the character’s face had been transformed with happiness, and she filled in some details and set us up for a whole ‘nother ending, even more satisfying. And I stood up again!

Yaga alludes to the Slavic legend of Baba Yaga, the witch who lives in a chicken-legged hut in the woods and flies around in a pestle steering with a mortar. I knew the kid-appropriate versions of this legend, first because my family subscribed to Jack&Jill magazine when I was young, and it had a series of Baba Yaga stories – not quite too scary for an imaginative kid. And in 2019, Alberta Musical Theatre Company did a musical version of Baba Yaga at the Fringe.

The play Yaga starts with a performer in black hooded cloak (N Girgis) drifting downstage from among the dead trees and scrap wood of the set (CM Zuby), invoking and critiquing the tale of the witch in the woods in accented English. Then there’s a shift to a contemporary student’s room. The student Henry (Maxwell Vesely) has invited Professor Catherine Yazov (Girgis) home, after having interviewed her for his podcast. Their interaction is highly flirtatious – Catherine is clearly enjoying making Henry uncomfortable.

Another shift – and police detective Carson (Emily Howard) is being questioned by a private investigator (Vesely) about Henry’s disappearance.

The narrative continues in a non-linear way, with the three performers portraying at least eleven characters. Different locations are shown by small shifts to the set – folding down what looks like a piece of fencing to become a desk in the detective’s office, setting a basket of condiments on a table to put the characters in a roadhouse restaurant, pulling across a flimsy fabric drape on metal rings to create a hospital cubicle. Performers don and doff costume pieces (Kat Evans) to portray characters of widely varying ages and roles in the town. Direction by Lana Michelle Hughes keeps the transitions smooth but clear, without delays, and the tension rising and rising.

Girgis’ cloaked archetype reappears periodically and points out some of the ways the assumption is in the myth follow patriarchal expectations – why is it that the solitary powerful woman in the woods is assumed sexless, childless, and ugly? What if she wasn’t?

It’s eerie and atmospheric (I was reminded of Cat Walsh’s The Laws of Thermodynamics and of The X-Files) and it was a fascinating mystery where criminals and victims, motives and history all had us guessing until late, and then wrapped up satisfyingly. Also, it is hilarious. From the remote old Ukrainian witch’s use of modern earthy bluntness to the two detectives’ verbal sparring, the script is very funny and the delivery matches it. My friend Marc Chalifoux mentioned Twin Peaks and I was sorry I hadn’t thought of that comparison first.

Design elements enhance the atmosphere and narrative. Chris Scott’s soundscapes and Even Gilchrist’s lighting designs, Kat Evans’ costuming and the c.m. zuby set create the twists and turns, the feelings and the stillness and the inevitable outcomes.

Kat Sandler is the Toronto playwright whose intertwined plays The Candidate and The Party were performed in overlapping high-speed repertory at the Citadel a few years ago. She’s also currently showrunner for the miniseries version of Yaga which will premiere on Crave next week starring Hudson Williams, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Noah Reid. And if you want more immersion, Shadow is also selling paperback scripts of Yaga and a few other Sandler plays at their box office.

Yaga is playing at the Varscona Theatre until November 1st, with tickets here. Expect award nominations for this one.