THE PLAY: Two high school students struggle to realize their identity, while one of their mothers addresses her issues. “Angels in America” serves as an inspiration to this play’s themes and is running in rep with that show.

 

THE PRODUCTION: The majority of this play is TOLD to the audience, instead of letting us experience the interaction or emotion. Despite this, the ensemble is uniformly compelling and they address the audience effectively (Raven Lorraine’s outsize personality brightens the stage and Jessi Johnson skillfully creates multiple roles). The production comes alive with the few dialogue scenes. Director Chelsea Burke ably staged the show with Michael Jarett’s lights and Amber Davis’ sound design supplementing the skeleton set pieces, which were too detailed to be appreciated and didn’t add anything, except a cluttered stage. This cast was commendable, but the play’s simplistic themes and presentational style didn’t provide enough of a payoff.

 

THE POINT: An uniformly compelling cast did a commendable job with a complex but ultimately unsophisticated play.

 

(3.5 / 5)

 

A TheatreLAB production at Richmond Triangle Players thru 4/22