What I liked
I especially liked the staging. When one couple was the center of attention, it wasn’t just spotlight-on-them. The other couple would continue to act their part and let the audience know that, even though these couples don’t really know each other, they have an everyperson kind of affinity for one another. When one couple would be subdued and leaning in close with one another, the other couple would be highly animated, even moving across the stage around the other couple. I found this a very artistic and refreshing way to use the stage to express the underlying plot themes.
What I didn't like
Of course there is always something that could be improved, but I wouldn’t want this one criticism of mine to detract from the greatness of this show. While I thought it was fine to introduce a difficult social problem of modern times, I don’t think it was necessary to go back to that theme later in the show, suggesting that the idea of a child running from bullets in a church would relate to a person running from their own problems. That would have been better left unsaid. This was the only disconnect I had with the script and with the young couples: The premise that this current young generation has to deal with issues that are more serious and more complicated than those of their predecessors. This is simply untrue. It would be better to let the WWII generation, the Boomers and the GenXers see themselves mirrored in the humanity presented, than to subdivide and imply that the worries of these two couples eclipse the worries of their forebears, as if that might excuse the tough decisions they are making.
My overall impression
The storyline was very thought-provoking. The characters were believable and the acting so spot-on that the whole scenario really pulls you in. You find yourself truly caring about the feelings of these characters, whether they are right or wrong. I especially liked the way the two storylines intermingled, leaving the audience with a true sense that these stories intertwined, that they were not just separate-but-equal couples going through their own isolated lives. They were all of us and there was something personal to consider in at least one of the characters who would, sometimes uncomfortably, parallel one’s own experiences with couple relationships.
