What I liked
I never doubted the actors for a moment. Every single role is played with conviction, clarity and an honesty that keeps us grounded.
What I didn't like
The mother’s arc inspires questions – how did she finally welcome not only the spiritual center but what we presume to be the possibility of new love in her life? Though the photo of the father might be left on the table throughout the course of the show as some kind of statement, it ends up being a distraction that we wish someone would deal with as we have many blackout moments where cast members constantly rearrange furniture. It might have been just as successful had the furniture been left in one place and the photo only present when necessary.
My overall impression
The show delivers powerful performances that are absolutely mesmerizing in moments and it is definitely up there on my list of productions who should be commended for best use of a projector. There are some questions about the script that make me wonder whether I missed a beat for at least one character makes a pretty significant leap from one brand of faith into another that might not be fully earned. Though it is not news to learn that one instance of pain management in a person’s life could get that person addicted to drugs that leads them into a downward spiral, the way it plays out here feels half-explored. We have a character who was brought up in an extremely repressed religious environment who becomes an irredeemable addict yet there is no moment where the script pauses to wonder whether the environment might have had anything to do with the outcome.
