Normalcy

“Normalcy” is an incredibly, well written play with excellent performances by the actors involved. The characters were interesting and the performance was truly moving, hard hitting and hopefully inspirational. The exceptionally well written work did its part now the rest is up to me.

The writing of Bennett Windheim is superb. The story is about a financially comfortable couple that wants to complete an interracial adoption. That provides for many good twists and turns. What really moved me were some of the comments on our society and about ourselves. This is especially true of the character, “Jules Ehrlich” (the father) played by Harvey Guion. He delivers his character’s skeptical views on people with great skill. Concerning the thanking or praying to God for success in a sporting event (this is entirely different than praying for safety) his character asks what happened to “the separation of church and stadium?!”

The couple Sarah and Peter Ehrlich played very well by Aleisha Force and Judson Jones respectively are in a good life and marriage but seem to want more. Without giving away the story which has a really intense twist in the 2nd and final act, I was moved by the issues the play brings out that are relevant in any adoption. Certainly the intensity of those issues increases with an adoption across racial lines which still has huge outside repercussions in our society. I also thought about what we have and what the couple had developed. Ultimately there is a need to realize how precious that is and a need to protect that place in our hearts and psyches.

Normalcy is at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater and is presented by Theatre East, a non profit theater company that emphasizes the attempt to provide understanding of ourselves and those around us in their productions. In “Normalcy” they have succeeded doing so with crackling dialogue that had my head spinning with stimulation.