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A new play in Bloomington left its audience dissolved in tears as they shambled out of the dark theater. I know I was not alone in feeling like I’d been hit over the head with a board because I had heard the old man behind me weeping, seen the tears streaming down the faces of the college kids in front of me, and counted the number of Kleenexes the woman next to us pulled out of her purse. Home is the current Bloomington Playwrights Project (BPP), playing now until December 17^th.

The description of the play does not prepare a viewer for the depths of emotion explored in this beautifully written play. Sure, I was seething with authorial jealousy most of the night, but I was also laughing hard during many funny scenes, impressed with all four actresses and actually enjoyed the musical numbers. That last doesn’t happen often. The stage is sharply done, giving the play a lot of movement and telling part of the story by itself. All the actresses turned in a strong performance, but I was especially struck with Francesca Sobrer, who played the mom. Her east Texas twang never failed, and she used the accent to good stead, whether to turn a phrase into a joke or wring even more pathos from an already fraught script.

Playwright Christy Hall absolutely nailed four aspects of female life, from yearning youth to frustrated early adult to wounded middle age and fading old age. She built the story with both perfect timing and an absolute understanding of the raw emotions each new scene wrung from every member of the audience. Everyone in the room has experienced most if not all of the yearnings and fears and frustrations, and we were all drawn deeply into the story through every aspect of production.

Christy Hall made me laugh and think and hurt and bond with the other poor souls trapped inside that story, enjoying the hell out of it. Brava.

LINKS:

• “Home” for the holidays at the Bloomington Playwrights Project – Review from local Bloomington paper.
• Bloomington Playwrights Project (BPP)
• BPP on Facebook
• Christy Hall – Official Website
• CFR’s previously posted review about a BPP play, She Kills Monsters