Review- Evidence of Things Unseen (Cap 21)

The Fab Marquee Review by A.K. Gobble.

Evidence of Things Unseen- a new play by Katie Forgette, tells the story of life and death. The curve-balls that we are sometimes served and the things we lose along the way. This is the story of one family being torn apart by loss. Both their collectives lose as a family as well as their own personal losses as individuals.

Eliza Ventura (Abigail Caldwell), Arthur Bartow (Jack Caldwell)
& Susan Cameron (Jane).

Abigail, a strong-minded rebellious writer, and Jane, her born again sister have a difficult and uneasy relationship. They struggle to stay unified and support their aging father while in the midst of a family crisis. Each character is extremely honest and raw, creating hilarious moments of interaction with one another, which is very much appreciated by the audience in light of the sad chain of events. The writer keeps things interesting by throwing in some curve-balls of her own. Her characters are all very smart intelligent people who like to quote famous individuals and give out moral lessons throughout the play. A thing that at times bothered me and made me think the writer doesn’t trust the audience to “get it” on their own.

In general the play was explained to us constantly by the characters and left not much room to discover our own sympathy. The actors were extremely professional and did their job wonderfully. It is a huge advantage to have such a skillful cast! I was moved mostly in their credit.

This piece is written in such a personal way that makes you want to love every character and root for them all no matter what the conflict is, but this raw honesty was sometimes a bit problematic and made it seem like a pity party, with each of the characters constantly describing how miserable they are while not afraid to repeat it numerous times throughout the play.

The Director, Frank Ventura made smart choices with the small space, staging the production in a “Theater in the round” style, which helps the audience exist in the situation. He was very creative with his set and even choreographed his stage hands and the set moves into the scenes, letting the shifts bleed into the play, and as a result giving it an eerie sensation of “ghosts of the past”. I liked that very much and thought it to be very unique.

All and all I enjoyed myself and think it is worth seeing especially for the talented cast of four.
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Cap 21 presents
Katie Forgette’s
Evidence of Things Unseen
May 20-June 1st, 2008
Cap21- The Shop

Tickets: 18.00 and are available online at www.cap21.org or by calling 212-352-3101.

Cap21-The Shop | 18 West 18th Street, 6th Fl | Chelsea.