| What a fascinating play! And what mind-blowing performances by the two male leads, Sean Carvajal and Edi Gathegi! I can't imagine what it must take to portray those characters with their cascades of language, almost like jazz solos, expressing such anguish and despair on the one hand and certainty and transcendance on the other. I'm not a religious person, but I have experienced the effect of belief in a higher power during recovery from addiction. But, and maybe this is the play's strength, I just can't put my finger on where the author stands on the spiritual and moral issues he raises in the play. When I left the performance, I sarcastically summed up the moral of the tale as "Never take spiritual advice from a psychopath". I remember in some recovery meetings in hospitals, criminals would share, and I found it hilarious that they would say things like "Even when I was robbing and killing, God was watching over me and protecting me." And what to make of the lawyer? Her intentions are good, but her actions end in disaster for her client, if not for her. There are so many flawed people, so many wrong turns and dead ends. The play starts with the 'Our Father' and ends with a 'Hail Mary'. Is that meant to be a grim joke? Fascinating. |
