A: Is for Art that keeps us Thinking!

As I left Primary Stages production of 'Body of Water', I was torn between laughing hysterically or crying uncontrollably. There is no way to leave this play unaffected. Lee Blessing's play gets underneath the surface of where we live and challenges us to examine our psyches. Like Edward Albee's 'The Goat or Who is Sylvia,' you will want to communicate. It will feel as if you don't express what Blessings words have uncorked you will crumble.








How much do our words, our buried thoughts or unexpressed actions effect us and more importantly those around us. What is real and even when we say good-by do we escape our own inner turmoil? Written like a mystery, it is a 90 minute roller-coaster ride into what is reality. It is easy to see why 'Body of Water' won the prestigious Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award. Lee Blessing’s words cut to the heart of the matter and unsettle us with humor. Moss and Avis, are the mouthpieces trapped inside themselves. Waking up together, naked day after day, having no idea who they are, or even where they are. They are forced to relive each day as if it’s their first. Enter Wren, who may be their daughter or is she their defender and in the same breath their accuser. Neil Patel's set offers us a glimpse of the beauty that hides what is behind the horror. Three Monet esq paintings create the psychical body of water that releases and entraps. Bart Fasbender music creates a solace that turns maddening. Christine Lahti's best known for her role in Chicago Hope, is riveting as Avis whose distraught calmness is a wound that never heals. Michael Cristofer, known for his words in the Pultizer and Tony Award winning play The Shadow Box unearths Moss's vulnerability ina way that is heartbreaking. Here is a man afraid to be alone, afraid to express and willing to except his guilt. Laura Odeh brings to Wren a mixture of warmth, cruelty and a frailty as she copes with the burden that has been placed upon her. It is through her we question our existence. Maria Mileaf's direction leaves us plenty of clues to get to the crux of the matter and discover what has been there all along.

A Body of Water opens October 14th and plays until November 16th at 2:00 p.m. Tickets run $60 with specially priced tickets available for $20 to patrons 35 and under. Primary Stages is located at 59 E 59. www.primarystages.org

There are times, plays touches us and leave us exploring our own vulnerability and those around us. They ask us to question and help us connect both to ourselves and others. This is that play and I for one am grateful to it and that is a F.A.C.T.