Pastor Paul (Bill Westenberg), announces the church's debt has finally been paid off and attendance has increased exponentially since they began as a storefront chapel twenty years ago. He then launches into a sermon that questions the traditional Christian belief about the afterlife. The popular assistant pastor, Joshua (Michael Domeny), expresses his dismay over Paul's position, and ultimately leaves the church, in the end taking a large portion of the congregation with him.
Briefly stated, the play is a debate between fundamentalism and more progressive church doctrine, but there's much more to it than that. Playwright Hnath's genius is in presenting the two sides of the argument without a conclusion. That's left to the audience.
Rounding out the cast are Peter Josephson as the church elder, Anja Parish as an unhappy congregant, and Carey Cahoon as Pastor Paul's wife, Elizabeth. Matt Cahoon directed, and Carey and Matt are responsible for the excellent production design. The choir consisted of Amelia Hanson, Jake Hudgins and Matt Kasnetz, directed by Maria Franciosa. Once again, Tayva Young's lighting expertise has enhanced a tKAPOW production.
All performances were superb, as we've come to expect from tKAPOW. The originality and talent of this small company is truly a gift to New Hampshire.
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