What I liked
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What I didn't like
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My overall impression
It’s easy to judge people you disagree with from a digital disconnect; it’s more difficult when you inhabit the same space. Saving Cain pits an Evangelical mother, Laurelai (Leah Verrill, equal parts infuriating and hilarious and nakedly human), against her teenage son, Levi (Lenny Hernandez, as good as he always is, defiant and doofy and tragic) amidst the tumultuous political landscape of the mid-2000s to the rocky, opioid-driven present. Strong performances ground the production. I was refreshed to see Laurelai, a character I fundamentally disagreed with politically, portrayed in a wholly human performance. She lived a different life than mine; how could I know what she’s been through? Who are we, but the sum of what we’ve been subjected to? Who am I not to honor another person’s tragic lived experience? These performances are a refreshing reminder that even if you disagree with a person, they’re still a person. It’s hard to disregard another person’s humanity when you’re in that same lived space,
That’s why the performances of base humanity in “Saving Cain” remind us that the connection between us is what makes us people. Spend some time with these characters. Watch Levi and his mother spar and act like you don’t remember how it felt with your parents. See the kindling of Levi’s friendship with schoolmate Bryan (Christian Blake Spitt, understated, funny, charming) and tell me that doesn’t remind you of high school friendships that come out of nowhere. Watch a romance bloom and wonder where it might go; see how failure and self medication come hand in hand with the American myth of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. I heard tears from the seat next to me; other parts made me laugh enough that the kid in front of me looked back to see what was wrong with me. I felt things. Go feel things at this production.
