BWW Reviews: Kimber Lee's DIFFERENT WORDS FOR THE SAME THING Reverberates at the Kirk Douglas Theatre
Think Thornton Wilder's Our Town. Move the action ahead a century or so, adding Asian Americans and Mexican-Americans to the Anglo-Saxon mix and you come out with a very contemporary perspective of a small American town in Kimber Lee's different words for the same thing, beautifully staged by director Neel Keller. In fact, the entire staging with set pieces moved or carried on and off by the 12-member cast to make the houses, stores, school playground, church, cemetery and other interiors/exteriors of the Idaho town come to life in the vast space is what first brought Our Town to mind. I could see/feel the big picture before getting into the smaller ones. These are highly personal scenarios, some quiet/passive, others volatile. Some scenes are practically blackouts with little or no dialogue... but the all-encompassing thread keeping them connected bristles with furrows of emotional tension. Very cinematic! The effect is overwhelming, almost like divine intervention. Now onstage at the Kirk Douglas Theatre through June 1, this world-premiere play cries out to be experienced.