Review: THE LIGHT at Theatre Exile

Beware any play in which a marriage proposal is just the warm-up stretch: like sun salutations kicking off a hot yoga class, it's grounding for the sweatstorm to come. There will be core work, and you will cry.

Opening night of Loy A. Webb's The Light at Philadelphia's Theatre Exile (1340 S. 13th Street, just off Columbus Park in Passyunk) was warmly received by a full house. Directed by J. Paul Nicholas, the play centers on the hot-and-cold engagement night of two youngish Chicagoans, Genesis (Angela Bey) and Rashad (Abdul Sesay), as they wind up reliving their romantic pinnacles alongside their separate, secreted traumas around sexual assault. The single-scene show carries tall orders for actors and audience alike as it plumbs the intersections of racism, sexism, celebrity, and violence, while managing to tuck plentiful moments of tenderness, humor, and - above all - love between the beats.

The Light is a birdshot blunderbuss of a play, ramrod packed with explosive emotion that sniffs at the idea of a bulls-eye. Anything that can come up, will come up - and no, they're not leaving until they talk about this. Over the course of the show, snow-melt trauma, hard-packed underfoot and over time, thaws into a deluge that leaves you wondering: is there a limit to what love can keep its head above? Webb's play duels with mainstream discourses around assault, including the ways we still find to interrogate victims and defend perpetrators even in a presumptively woke, #MeToo world where old tricks have been outed. But it also airs the mess of intersections between racism, misogyny, and the limits we place upon lived experience. At some moments, Webb delivers quotable insight in a brief monologue. At others...well, sometimes there is no perfect line. Sometimes, all you can do is say "I'm sorry," and hope that love will be enough to keep you together.

Bey and Sesay have a heavy burden to carry in their dynamic, as so much of the play hinges on Genesis and Rashad's ability to come back together through love when you're half expecting them to peace out from hurt and frustration. On opening night, the pair's palpable acclimation in the opening minutes blossomed by the first kiss, thanks largely to Bey's versatile expression. Wielding an arsenal of flinty glances fit for a Chicago charter school principal, Bey's beats come in delightful paradiddles, giddy/sassy/stony/silly in quick succession as she shoots back and forth with Sesay's self-possessed, playful, totally romantic Rashad.

The Light runs until February 26. Proof of vaccination and masks are required to attend. In accordance with the play's sensitive topics, Theatre Exile provides clear instructions for how and where to exit the stage area during the performance at any time. Tickets range from $10-40 and may be purchased online or by phone at 215-218-4022.

Full Cast & Crew

Acting: Angela Bey and Abdul Sesay | Direction: J. Paul Nicholas | Scenic design: Nick Embree | Costume design: Tiffany Bacon | Lighting design: Drew Billiau | Sound design: Natali Merrill | Music & composition: Larry Fowler | Dramaturgy: Dr. Kimmika L. H. Williams-Witherspoon | Production management: Janet Embree | Stage management: Melody Wong | Assistant stage management & COVID compliance: Miranda Watkins | Technical direction: Nick Schwasman | Assistant lighting design: Sophie Smyczek | Producing artistic direction: Deborah Block | Intimacy Direction: Eli Lynn

Edit March 1, 2023: Credits for intimacy director were added to the cast & crew.