Quick peeks at #HFF24’s “Women on the Fringe” by Fringe Femmes who are behind the scenes this year. Click Here for all Check-Ins
WHO: Marisa Ray
WHAT: Amen
WHERE: Actors Company (Other Space Theater) 916 N. Formosa Av
WHY: Marisa Ray’s Amen is a wonderful one-act play. It is a play that is fearless in asking big questions and doesn’t feel the need to answer them for the audience. It requires us to ponder, to sit with our beliefs… and what we think we know and how we know it. The ensemble is lovely and each actor onstage is a fully realized character. I loved the shadow work embodied by the actors and the use of talking to God. And God, themselves, talking throughout the play was clever and familiar, for we all have had our own experiences with God.
Yet religion is not the focus of the play but a catalyst for expansive thinking on a wide range of ideas, issues and beliefs. There is nothing like an ensemble of young actors onstage doing new work. They were magnificent together; unique because the entire cast reflected the real world. An excellent, non-forced representation of what diversity can look like onstage. I was mesmerized by the writing on huge topics and in awe of the direction, costume and set design. A truly original piece.