Last week I went to see ” In Absentia” at the B Street Theater. This is an outstanding piece of work. The premise of the play is straightforward — the death of a loved one. But the staging is unique. The play is non-linear; past and present are presented all at once. Characters move in and out of time in the most marvelously fluid fashion. The actors never dropped a beat.
One phrase or word or visual cue and the conversation morphs into fantasy, back to reality, segues into a memory, then comes back round to the present. Characters carry on multiple conversations, the dialog is quick and cunning, the relationships are complex. You would think this would be confusing, but it wasn’t.
The main character, a women named Colette, is forced to deal with the disappearance of her husband Tom. She is caught between fear, hope, grief, and guilt. A mysterious young stranger shows up at her remote Canadian home in the winter, and fills the void left by her missing husband. Her friends disapprove, but she can’t let him leave. The play comes full circle as he reveals more and more of his elusive nature.
Elisabeth Nunziato, Kurt Johnson, Jamie Jones, David Pierini, and Dan Fagan make up the cast. Everybody did an outstanding job.
Well that’s it for now, thanks for stopping by and have a great day!
