One of the most thrilling evenings of theater I've had recently and a
production sure to be among my top 10 of the year is Furious Theater
Company's current offering at the Carrie Hamilton Theater at the Pasadena
Playhouse: Grace, by Craig Wright.

Within the past year, Wright has already dazzled L.A. audiences with Orange
Flower Water (Ann Noble is duely Ovation Nominated for her lead
performance) and Recent Tragic Events (featuring another worthy Ovation
nominee, Drake Simpson),   and Grace features THE female performance to
beat for the current season, that of Sara Hennessy, along with stellar turns by
her three superb costars Brad Price, Eric Pargac, and Dana Kelly, Jr. Director
Damaso Rodriguez proves himself to be one of the top echelon of L.A. talent
with his striking vision of Wright's work.

Briefly put, Grace tells of a young married couple from Minnesota, both
evangelicals, who move to Florida to start a chain of "Gospel Hotels." Their
neighbor is a young man whose fiancee has been tragically killed (and his own
face maimed) in a freak car accident.  As the wife's increasingly nerve (and
itch) wracked husband begins to go off the deep end, she finds herself falling
for the man next door.

The play features not one but two absolutely brilliant and original touches. Skip
this paragraph if you wish to be absolutely surprised, though both are revealed
within the first five to ten minutes of the production.  The first is to let the
audience in on the play's tragic denouement by showing it as a film is played in
reverse, with characters rising from the floor (where they had fallen) to a
standing position, walking in reverse motion, etc. Only the spurts of dialog are
spoken in the right order. Christie Wright's superb lighting and Doug Newell's
amazing sound design add to the nightmarish effect.  The second "never seen
that before" conceit is to have the action in two identical neighboring
apartments taking place simultaneously on the same stage set.  It's not just a
clever idea; it really works to add to the tension and allow the audience to see
both sides of the story taking place as they happen.

Like Recent Tragic Events, Wright's writing manages to be hilarous and
devastating within instants of each other. Hennessey deserves special praise
for managing to evoke terror (and stay completely focused) even as the
audience bursts out once again into laughter.

I've written a lot of good reviews recently (face it, L.A. has offered
theater-goers some fantastic shows in the past few months), but Grace stands
with Corpus Christi and Doubt as an absolutely MUST SEE show.  As I write this, I
realize that, coincidentally, all three deal with issues of religion and faith.  L.A.
theater lovers have a lot to rejoice about these days!
OCTOBER 2006, FURIOUS THEATRE COMPANY, PASADENA.

--Steven Stanley