Company: Shotgun Players
Written and Directed by Mark Jackson
Original Music by Daveen Digiacomo
If I had to summarize God’s Plot into one sentence it would read: “Sexually frustrated teenagers will destroy your town.” In 2011, the year of the Arab Spring, the Occupy movement, and various other youth-led revolutionary movements, this play seemed oddly fitting. It serves as a much-needed reminder that history repeats itself and that human nature never really changes.
God’s Plot is set in a fictional Virginian colony in 1665 (think Salem Witch Trials). As the play opens, Tryal Pore (Juliana Lustenader), the daughter of the town’s chief judicial officer, is preparing to confess her blasphemous thoughts and ask the town and God for forgiveness.
It is immediately apparent after the confession that Tryal repents nothing. She refuses to fall in line and play the part of the devout and chaste daughter of her well-respected Puritan family. She is on a mission to speak her mind. To make things even more interesting, Tryal also has fiery feelings for her tutor, the actor William Darby (Carl Holvick Thomas). The clandestine lovers embark on a journey that will change the town forever.Mark Jackson wrote an ambitious play, and he largely pulled it off. It lacked a little in human emotion the night that I went, but that was the Preview. The simple yet beautiful staging and the live music more than made up for it.
WARNING: This play is not graphic but is most suited to older teens (16+)
You can see God’s Plot at the Ashby Stage through January 15, 2012:
Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7pm
Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm
Sundays at 5pm
More information can be found at Shotgun’s website.
-Saskia Levy-Sheon
I saw it a few weeks later into the run, and was completely blown away. Like Saskia said, the staging and music were beautiful. I especially loved the sequence towards the beginning where the entire cast helps tell the story of William Darby's arrival in The Colonies, and I also loved the play sequence later on (though I don't want to give anything away!). The human emotion was very much there when I saw it, not only in the Tryal/Darby scenes but in the Fawsett/Martin sections as well, so I agree that the slight lack in emotion when Saskia saw it was probably because the cast was still getting on their feet in a preview show. Mark Jackson's writing and directing is great (I'm hoping to get to see more of his work), and I'm really glad I got to see this show.
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