What I liked
This show reels you in right away by being upfront about the fact that it’s a semi-autobiographical piece about a guy who’s desperate to come up with something deep and well researched about religion and history for his new script but hits writers block and decides to get high instead.
The intro was charming enough to immediately get me on board with rolling with the slapdash and self-parodying tone of the show, which nonetheless consistently surprised me with how credibly skilled the singing and dancing was and how much commitment the actors gave — special shout out to Andrew Abaria who elevates a role that on the page is just exposition with his sunny stage presence, and Adair Tishler who completely steals the show as Phoebe the cat, who absolutely deserves her own spinoff
What I didn't like
Sadly I feel like the weak link in this staging was the casting of Darin McKenna as Sven, who didn’t give us enough raw aggression and intimidation in his initial entrance to justify Ben’s reaction to him and make a lot of the jokes in the script land, and therefore provide the necessary contrast for what we learn about him later on. (I felt like the writer was thinking Thorfinn from Ghosts when writing the part but ended up casting someone who comes off as much more soft-spoken and sensitive from the outset than the stereotypical “Viking” we’re meant to imagine.)
Also I really try not to be an insufferable pedant about these things but the script did have some flubs that bumped me, like one section of dialogue where the characters repeatedly said “ancestor” when they meant “descendant” (and unfortunately in one of the most emotional parts of the play)
But overall these are minor complaints and the play exceeded my expectations for a Fringe show
My overall impression
A disarmingly witty, achingly earnest and shockingly honest musical about generational trauma and millennial angst
