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When a play induces a tear every few lines, you know the production staff is doing something right. That was the case with Jaclyn Villano's beautifully scripted "Unanswered, We Ride," the season opener of local troupe Theatre Daedalus, showing at Wild Goose Creative from Nov. 27-29.
"Unanswered" does just what the title proclaims—it produces a host of unanswerable questions that arise during a woman's heart-wrenching struggle to cope with the death of her 9-year-old child.
Sonda Staley Lewis is both effervescent and moving as the tortured Reese O'Leary. She commands the stage playing 11 roles in the one-woman show, detailing the events that lead up to and follow her daughter's accidental death.
The expanded script breathes new life into a similar one-act Villano premiered at the company’s “Project 10” shorts festival last year. She combats much of the melodrama expected during such a tale with wit and welcomed jest, while seamlessly propelling the plot forward with touching analogy.
When the loudspeaker plays the questions, "Mommy, why did Stevie have to die?" Lewis responds to the audience. "Some questions are easy to answer, while others take a little more finesse." It's a phrase repeated throughout the night, as O'Leary faces some of life's hardest questions.
Lewis briskly moves through the 80-minute production under April Olt's fine-tuned direction.
Villano eloquently presents a genuine representation of one woman's horrific struggle, while Lewis hits every mark emotionally in a touching production that definitely deserves much longer than a one-weekend run.
"Unanswered, We Ride" runs Nov. 27-29 at Wild Goose Creative. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the door or online at the Theatre Daedalus Web site.
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