Deputy Arts Editor Sydney Kaufman attended the closing night performance of Swallow & Otter on April 4th in the Glicker-Milstein Theatre.

This past weekend, First Stages premiered Swallow & Otter, an original children’s musical written by Kiana Mottahedan (CC ’26) and directed by Norah Vlas (BC ’26). The show was co-produced by Mila Tabach (BC ’26) and Maeve Sheehan (CC ’26), co-choreographed by Elle del Valle (CC ’28) and Olivia Llauger, tech directed by Nathan Rakolta (CC ’27), music directed by Dallin Attwooll (CC ’26), and co-stage managed by Tyler Daniel (CC ’27) and Riley Dewey (SEAS ’29). Though the reason the musical is titled Swallow & Otter does not go unexplained, it is a reveal best experienced live, and so it shall go unmentioned here.

Swallow & Otter tells the tale of 14-year-old Sim (Caitlin Balón, BC ’27) and her younger sister Oly (Julia Lima, CC ’29), narrated by their teacher Mrs. Bell (Njoki Tiagha, CC ’27). One night, Sim shows Oly her dance for their upcoming recital; Sim has been cast in the role of a mythical king bird called the Simorgh. In doing so, Sim summons a portal to another planet ruled by the magical Reera (Anly Lockwood, CC ’28). The girls travel to the paradise world at night, harming Sim’s school performance as she, in her now limited time, prioritizes practicing her choreography rather than her math coursework. Mrs. Bell informs Sim that if she fails her math class, she won’t be able to participate in extracurricular activities anymore, including dance. 

Since Sim struggles to focus on math due to her longing to be back in Reera’s forest, Oly suggests she travel there to study. Reera leaves Sim in a secluded cave so she can concentrate. Here, she encounters the demon Eridu (also played by Tiagha), who claims Reera betrayed her and banished her to a glacier for 10 million years, an act that cost Reera her powers of transformation. Sim dances with her, restoring Eridu’s powers and angering Reera to the point of demanding that Sim and Oly never return. Between her lack of studying, sleep deprivation, and guilt over upsetting Reera, Sim fails her final exam and falls during her dance recital. Oly offers to help Sim with math, prompting Sim to accuse Oly of trying to fix her and causing a rift between the two. 

Over the summer break, Sim falls into a depression until she and Oly reconcile. Sim is able to dance and conjure the portal once more, and the sisters find that the forest planet has frozen over. They reunite with Reera, who admits Eridu’s imprisonment was unjustified and agrees to help resolve things. Although Eridu still resents Reera, she agrees to dance with her and Sim for the sake of restoring balance to the world, revealing that Sim is actually the Simorgh who resided on the planet before Eridu or Reera. Later, Sim visits Mrs. Bell to discuss her academic future, with the teacher suggesting Sim pursue dance school.

Mrs. Bell is an easy standout character, thoughtfully guiding the audience through Sim and Oly’s journey with expert delivery, even prompting a specific audience member (co-choreographer del Valle, as it turns out) with rhetorical questions at several points throughout her narration in a bit that brought down the house without fail. Though comedic at times, Mrs. Bell primarily acts as Sim’s strict but encouraging mentor. Notably, all characters on the forest planet are doubled with real-world counterparts a la The Wizard of Oz, such as Sim’s hapless classmate Rump (Ryan Crawford, CC ’27), who is played by the same actor as both an extravagant Duck Mother and an unsuccessful fisherman named Bob. Bob was similarly well-received by the audience, especially during the scene where he enjoys his single success as an angler with Oly’s assistance. Sim later inspires Bob to become a demon hunter and help the girls find Eridu, giving refreshing depth to a character who otherwise serves solely as comic relief. In their own ways, both the characters Bob and Mrs. Bell soften the tone of the story when the tone darkens, allowing the musical to explore more serious topics while still remaining accessible for its target audience. Swallow & Otter makes excellent use of its small cast, always giving its actors something to do and helping the forest planet feel as alive as the “real” world.

The show also lovingly incorporates Persian mythology. For instance, Mrs. Bell, who serves as both the math and dance teacher, bases the girls’ dance performance on the poem The Conference of the Birds. The plot subverts the expectations of a traditional good vs. evil story by portraying both Reera and Eridu in a sympathetic light, compelling the girls to find a viable compromise between both parties. The sisters themselves display an unbreakable bond through their unrelenting willingness to forgive and understand one another. Mottahedan truly crafted both the characters and story with a skillful level of devotion, intricately weaving the themes of connection and growth into the show’s plot. 

As stirring as the story may be, the pacing sometimes lags. The main conflict of Reera’s world, Eridu, is not properly introduced until more than halfway through the show’s run. This leaves the first half to repetitively set up the same issue, Sim’s inattention to her academics in favor of her constant traveling to the other planet, without making significant headway until the second half. Some plot threads are introduced here as Chekhov’s guns that never truly fire, like Oly developing an interest in learning Sim’s Simorgh part or hurting her ankle. Introducing the other world’s major plotline earlier might give the show a bit more balance and make for a more comfortable one-act runtime; in its current iteration, the musical is two hours without an intermission. There are a few plot holes, such as Reera bringing Sim to the cave despite knowing Eridu would be there or how exactly Sim could be the Simorgh, but these can be explained if the viewer takes the forest planet to be a manifestation of Sim’s vivid imagination (as is the case in other portal fantasies like Labyrinth). This theory is, however, partially contradicted by Sim glowing at one point in the real world.

All that being said, Swallow & Otter is exquisitely polished. A major component of the show relies on dance, providing a unique challenge for the choreographers. The Simorgh dance is repeated many times, yet each character who undertakes it expresses themselves in distinct ways. This demonstrates the commendable ability of the choreographers to capture each character’s personality through dance, making their unique characteristics visible for the audience, even when the actual moves are technically the same; Sim is adept and passionate, Oly is eager and energetic, and Reera is graceful yet cautious.

The set designs of Fuqing Yue (BC ’25) add most remarkably to the play’s fantastical visuals. Intricate and colorful cardboard standees adorned the stage alongside elaborate cloth tapestry-like pieces, providing delectable, vibrant texture. A river in the forest world is represented by a long section of fabric that is unfolded from one such piece and seamlessly returned as the scene demands. (It is covered by another long section of shiny tulle material when Eridu’s release causes it to “freeze” over.) The most enticing of these were the lampshades that descend directly from the ceiling for scenes in Sim and Oly’s bedroom, earning appreciative gasps from the audience when they first appeared.

For a student production, the music is thoroughly impressive with multiple memorable numbers, including “Start to Move” and “Become a Bird.” Beautiful music direction from Attwooll and orchestrations from Daniella Sapone (BC ’25) bring the score to life throughout and brilliantly set the musical’s whimsical tone. Matthew Kang (CC ’26) wows with immersive sound design, completing the audience’s sonic transportation into the story’s rich visual setting; this is best exemplified by the singular, water-dripping sound effect that orients the viewer in the isolating cave where Sim attempts to focus on her schoolwork. 

Swallow & Otter is touching, imaginative, and enjoyable for all ages. Drawing from the deep well of Persian mythology, Mottahedan has built a unique world for her characters to explore their unconditional bond as they attempt to find their own paths. Even if Reera’s planet is just a dream to the audience, it encourages us to seek the magic in each other, as well as within ourselves.

Header via Maeve Sheehan.