Review: OH, TO BE PURE AGAIN Cleanses Souls at Actor's Express

Ahhh, that fresh new play smell... and it smells of pine? OH, TO BE PURE AGAIN opened its world premiere at Actor's Express and will run until March 26th, 2023. With strong performances, stellar tech, and a startling poignant story, PURE AGAIN feels like a much-needed baptism in healing.

A premier nearly 3 years in the making, Actor's Express and its dedication to fearless theatre is quickly becoming one of the go-tos for new plays by new playwrights. PURE AGAIN feels like a story that needs to be told now. The timeliness of healing religious trauma, advocating for women's autonomy, and allowing children the freedom to be children resonates deeply at this moment. When you go see it, please understand that this show contains intense themes that some audience members may find triggering.

As you walk through the theatre doors to find your seats, several tall trees stretch into the ether. They surround two wooden platforms, one of which is in audience seating. The trees smell faintly of pine and feel real to the touch. This is thanks to the many hours the Actor's Express creative team spent hand-gluing real pieces of bark to create fake trees - the true stars of the scenic show. Props designer Nick Battaglia and scenic designer Stephanie Busing immediately show off as a dynamic duo.

With cheerful birdsongs, bug swarms, and oodles of camp songs, Kate Hoang's sound design feels seamless. Hoang's thoughtful cues and choices add a deeper layer to the immersive nature of the show. With the clever use of unusual lighting sources, such as beneath the stage and within audience seating, Toni Sterling's lighting design is ideally suited to the space and story. I especially loved the "fireflies" dancing throughout the air.

Brandy Bell is a sweet, genuine, and charming Luna - the "granola hippie" of the high school junior girl's cabin. "Mother Earth" energy seems to radiate off of Bell as Luna empathetically connects with both nature and her fellow campers. Bell's natural charisma and comedic timing shine through in a genuinely delightful way.

As "the main man," of the show, Andres Figueroa plays Adrian, the church's resident heartthrob and worship band leader. I wouldn't be surprised if Figueroa is used to being swooned over as he brings a naturally confident charisma to the role. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see some of Adrian's best moments due to the staging - but I did get to see some quality "back acting."

Ebony Jerry packs her usual punch as the loud, sporty, and energetic Trina - the volleyball star enjoying her last church camp. Jerry explodes with character from the moment she steps on stage until the moment she bows, making Trina's high energy infectious to both characters and the audience alike.

I feel as if I know Aliya Kraar's performance as Rachel all too well. As if Kraar had actually plucked a pre-teen from the church camp I attended in the 2010s to re-inhabit on stage. Kraar's mastery of verisimilitude creates the most believably annoying, painful, and at times rapturous character on stage.

Brian Kurlander made me want to fight. Specifically, I wanted to fight Rachel's Dad as Kurlander palpably changed the play with his short-lived presence. Kurlander's dedication to character creates an oppressive wave that submerges everyone with his entrance and recedes with his exit.

While PURE AGAIN works like an ensemble show, if there is a main character it is Shannon Murphy as Becca. Murphy is a powerhouse on stage as Becca shoulders her responsibilities as camp counselor alongside her inner spiritual turmoil, creating a tangible sense of weight that Becca carries. Watching Murphy's balance between internal and external flip, inverse, and even turn inside out is like watching the heart of this story beat.

Erin North as Jean Ruby has serious "main character energy," that at times grew so strong I thought the play might be headed in a new direction following North's charming lead. JR is at her best when she is at her most sapphic and North is at her best when she's at her most rebellious.

Alejandra Ruiz as Autumn might just be the breakout performance of this show. Ruiz's lackadaisical attitude and softly sapphic moments are so compelling that Autumn felt not like a character but like a real person at times. Autumn's compellingly authentic inner life invites a deeper intimacy when she is on stage and Ruiz is unafraid to take us with her into the deep end.

The costumes for this show feel equally antiquated and appropriate - like those khaki shorts with the white socks and green striped polo is SO 2010s. I wouldn't be surprised if Costume Designer Cole Spivia spent some serious time thrifting pieces for this show as everything felt natural to the story and viscerally nostalgic.

It's clear that there was one thing top of mind as Kira Rockwell wrote this play - sex. The power, the intimacy, the consequences of it, and how the specific circumstances of the Evangelical Christian Church's purity culture can affect one's relationship with it. For the women and girls in this show, sex, and sexual desire as a whole, is an evil that must be exorcised - until they decide it's not. Until they finally stand up and say, "I am allowed to feel this, my body is my own." And what an org*smic relief it is once they do.

Director Kate Bergstrom's unique perspective colors and tints moments throughout the show as if we're suddenly looking at it through stained glass. In the few moments that PURE AGAIN dips into the surreal, there almost seems to be an element of dance as actors and practical tech swirl together in rhythm.

If you're looking to feel seen, heard, challenged, awed, inspired to create change, or reminiscent of your tweenage days in the early 2010s, then you are looking to see OH, TO BE PURE AGAIN at Actor's Express. To quote my favorite line in the show: "My body is not your sin." But it would be a sin to miss this story.

OH, TO BE PURE AGAIN runs March 4th - 26th, get your tickets here!

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