THE PLAY: A Christian couple moves to Florida to open a religious-themed hotel. Next door lives an atheist who’s been thru a traumatic tragedy. Their interactions revolve around faith with extended monologues that allow each character to express their experience.
THE PRODUCTION: This production is better than the relentlessly passionate and belabored material. Alexander Sapp serves as the central catalyst with a captivating performance that ranges from energetic to intense. Nicklas Aliff expresses opposite viewpoints with emotional depth and intensity. McLean Jesse effectively expresses the dilemmas of the woman caught in the middle. Eric Dobbs (back on stage after a decade) enjoyably adds much-welcome lighter moments. Director Deejay Gray has staged the show in the round, using an intimate curtained space that literally puts the audience in the room. Several moments of his theatrical staging bring dramatic power to the production. The music coming from outside the space undermines it’s effect (and the opening night “burps” in the sound system were distracting).
THE POINT: The cast and staging are powerful, but the belabored play dilutes the show’s strength.
A TheatreLAB production at RVA Event Space thru 4/5
Here’s the SIFTER video about the production and TheatreLAB’s new space.