Grace

        Whether or not we believe in God, we all have some amount of faith inside of us. Most of us, in our childhoods at least, are brought to church, and introduced to an organized religion of some kind through our parents or grandparents. It's clear from his new play Grace that playwright Craig Wright doesn't have much good to say about organized religion of any kind.

       What is meant to be a poignant study of faith and redemption is marred by what I can only assume is an unintentional bout of in-authenticity. Grace neither poorly, nor extremely well written. It's themes are grand, but it's details are overtly simplistic in an unflattering way.

    The play begins at the end. We know how these characters end up before we see anything of how they got there. Since all is revealed in the first 10 seconds it spoils nothing to tell you that the three main characters all die in what is both the beginning and the end. After their tragic death, things return to "the beginning" and we are shown exactly how these people got from point A to point dead.

    Most of the action focuses on Steve and Sarah, a couple from the northern mid-west who has now relocated to FL to follow the path they believe that God has laid out for them. That path includes Steve opening a chain of gospel themed hotels. When his main investor seems to be having second thoughts, Steve tries to charm some money out of his next door neighbor Sam who has just been in a major accident that has left his fiance dead and his face scarred for life.

    All three characters become entangled in each others lives both personally and professionally. Also making an appearance is a German holocaust survivor named George. George is the kind of character who seems insignificant, and who should have remained insignificant.

    The play is full of coincidences and religious cliche's abound. Each of these characters has a beef with God for one reason or another, and each of them must come to terms with said beef before the end of the play.
 
   Grace was not a bad play. It flows at a rather rapid pace and comes in just over 90 minutes in length. It was certainly not without error, and it did give a lot to think about and a lot to discuss after seeing. Part of the problem may have been in performances. Steve and Sarah are both born again Christians, but each time they call upon the name of the Lord it gave you that aforementioned lack of authenticity. I don't believe that it was the intent of the author for these characters faith to seem ingenuous or forced (at least not at the beginning).

  Grace closed it's limited run at The Cort Theater on Sunday January 6th, 2013. This is one of only 5 new plays to have opened so far this season, and the only one to finish out it's entire scheduled run of performances. Though it's box office was not strong enough to prompt an extension. This play is certainly worth seeing, and due to the youngish nature of the characters I expect productions to crop up on the more liberal college campuses and regional theaters.