Eye on Dance

Eye on the Arts: God's Waiting Room

August 20, 2005

Taught as a body builder's stomach, "God's Waiting Room" smells like Sartre's existentialist play "No Exit" and moves like "the Great Escape." Four chairs, astro turf, a cooler, some beers, a rack of dry cleaned clothes, three women and a man energize the one-hour production into a dramatic free fall. Deploying tight direction by Alexis Poledouris, Ashlin Halfnight's play snaps with kinetic persuasion.

Reliving moments that connected their lives, the actors run back and forth over a set of words and actions the way insomniacs ‘ thoughts incessantly rewind in a cloud of anxiety.

Welcoming the audience--fellow victims of a lethal accident—in the waiting room, we are asked to relax and wait for the final ruling. And wait you do with no thought of exiting until the end arrives. Performance Lab 115 performs "God's Waiting Room" at P.S. 122 Downstairs through August 28.