Believers
About the show
Workshop Theater presents a play that intertwines the stories of a young couple and their older selves, and looks at the tragedy and comedy that changes their lives and faith. More…
The play contains two stories of one marriage, 20 years apart. Donna and Chris meet at a Christian college and are irresistibly attracted to each other. He is a fine art major with impressive talent, idealistic toward his fine art career. She is a high-spirited theology major of passionate religious temperament. They are both people of faith, even though hers is religious and his is toward his art. Twenty years later, the progress of their lives brings insurmountable challenges to their ideals. The play examines the love and sacrifice that brings people together, the nihilism that can rip them apart, and the phenomenon of faith that may or may not sustain them.
"The dialogue remains sprightly and clever, despite the increasingly ominous cloud of circumstances, but Ms. Lauren’s one-note affect allows little of Donna’s spirit to rise to the surface. Meanwhile, adult Chris has gone corporate-drab, his artistic ambitions — painted in rather broad, clichéd strokes — subsumed by a career in advertising. Mr. Travostino conveys the necessary sympathy and co-suffering, right up to the intriguing, intentionally ambiguous denouement." Full Review
"The playwright packs a whole lifetime...Two sets of actors portray a couple in different periods in their life through a number of discrete moments...It can be tricky for actors to to play younger and older versions of the same character. You want the audience to see and believe that the younger version would grow up to be the older version...The younger Donna and older Donna can feel out of sync at times." Full Review
"The show starts off way too slow and doesn’t quite build if it weren’t for the plot line. Though this play is an extremely interesting and haunting premise, it stays in the black and white areas instead of exploring the grey. We never see the demise of faith, just expect it. This is a play of relevance and for those struggling with faith, this may help put life into perspective." Full Review
"Both playwright Jaworowski and his director Alex Dmitriev display a respect for the fact that the line between people of faith and those who question it can be thinner than either side thinks. But there's a Job-like relentlessness to the pile up bad-news events in the latter part of the couple's life that undermines the dramatic tension and eventually wore me down." Full Review
"'Believers' feels like a work-in-progress that is hinting at something that could carry intellectual weight and a stronger emotional charge. Though the situation intrigues, the characters are too insubstantial and far too agreeable to keep our interest. The dialogue, though sometimes clever, is anemic and the crucial questions about faith and believing are merely waltzed around." Full Review
See it if you like a thought provoking portraylof the early and later years of a couple as they face challenges together
Don't see it if you want a subtle and satisfying resolution that's credible.
Cast & Creatives (11)
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