Hostage Song

Photo/Samantha Marble

If the creative dreamteam of director Oliver Butler (The Debate Society), playwright Clay McLeod Chapman (The Pumpkin Pie Show), and songwriter Kyle Jarrow (A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant) isn't enough to convince you to buy a ticket for Hostage Song, then you just don't like downtown theater. This is the rare show that works on all levels, from Chapman's arresting metaphors to Butler's relentless direction, Jarrow's serrated anthems, and the cast's raw honesty. Speaking directly and tragically to the unreality of being held hostage, Chapman's text puts precious, awkward situations out of context as soon-to-die Jim and Jennifer (Paul Thureen and Hanna Cheek) try to find some light behind their blindfolds. It's beautiful and genuine, and works a sublimely sorrowful magical realism (only without the hope of magic itself) that the energetic songs and minimalistic direction only help to enforce. I'll be going back to this one before it closes.

[Read on] [Also blogged by: David]