My overall impression
A formidable achievement in modern theater hidden in the recesses of the Asylum Theater.
This play claims to examine the marvel of life, but goes further than that playing wistfully with the lives of beings born of a higher vernacular. This is a philosophical piece that doesn’t lose itself in its own philosophy or self importance. It’s quite funny and moving in equal measures.
We follow Aila into life after drowning (afterlife? (you decide)) in the world of I Am, a character of literal reflection, and the Being, a kinetic entity flowing between events. Between Aila’s estranged daughter, the scientists, a martyr, the stoners, not just one genre of theater is represented. While abstraction is paramount for such a piece, nothing need be left to your imagination. The sound effects, projected visuals (which they do have contrary to what they report), movement, and grounding of the performers will overwhelm the viewers apprehension towards such material, and leave them with enough to feast on long after the show ends. I haven’t been this jazzed after a piece of theater in a long time and I suspect it will be a long time before I am again.
