god's ear

I am officially at the point where I will buy a ticket to anything Erika Chong Shuch is involved with and that's exactly how I found myself at the Ashby Stage Thursday night to see the Shotgun Players' new production of God's Ear, a play written by Jenny Schwartz.  Shuch directed, and her influences are evident in everything from the imaginative stage design to how the actors incorporate movement and music into the script.  The Players have been careful to not give away too much about the play, and the marquee on the Ashby Stage merely reads "A Comedy About Grief."  Even this barest mention of the g-word still might be enough to scare some viewers off, but the play succeeds in defying all expectations.  Schwartz places her characters in a surreal dreamscape where language often seems more a hindrance than a help, and they speak in the cliches and platitudes we use to cope with the unspeakable.  In the hands of a less capable director and cast it could have resulted in a bloody mess, but I was moved not only to tears but also to hearty laughter at several points during the performance.  When I have experienced grief it has never been a one-way path from denial to acceptance; emotions jump all over the place, disappear for a while, reassert themselves months later.  The unique language of performance Shuch cultivates as director is especially suited to communicate this mind-bending complexity.  When an instance of true connection finally happens in the play, and in the most seemingly banal of husband-wife interactions, it becomes the most magical and satisfying moment of all.