Alexandra Pontone

I am, in general, a huge fan of new works. There just seems to be this sense of vitality and urgency in original plays - the feeling that someone HAD to tell this story; and that kind of passion and need for expression has led to some of my favorite theatrical experiences. As of last night, Just Say It Theater's production of The Big Heartless can be added to that list. This new play, written by local playwright Dale Dunn, was a semi-finalist in the 2016 Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, and I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to see it in Santa Fe, cast with local talent and directed by the always excellent Lynn Goodwin.

'Some people's lives, they seem to go easy, don't they? In a straight line, floatin' down a river with the breeze at their backs. Others, like mine, like yours, well, not such a straight line. There's no explaining it or trying to figure it out…It just is. It's big. It's big and it's heartless.'

In times of duress, theatre can be many things - cathartic, comforting, inspiring - and the very timely production of The Revolutionists by Lauren Gunderson (the most produced contemporary playwright in America) at The Adobe Rose Theatre succeeds in being all of those things, as well as being both a riotous and moving evening of theatre.