A BRIGHT NEW BOISE
A BRIGHT NEW BOISE, by Samuel D.Hunter is a dark comedy about connection, decisions made, consequences earned, and trying to find profit in retail while one employee is actively trying to summon the Prophet and praying for The Rapture.
Set in the break room of a Hobby Lobby, the play opens with manager Pauline (Holly Stephenson) interviewing Will (Salomón Maya) for a part time position. Though he is socially awkward, and a bit twitchy, his past experience gets him hired and Pauline goes off to start his paperwork. When Alex (Devin Wade) the teenage employee who has social awkwardness of his own, comes into the break room Will uses this as a chance to introduce himself to the son who never knew him. To say that it’s awkward is an understatement.
When Leroy (Markus Rodriguez) Alex’s fiercely protective adoptedolder brother, and “the only person in the entire store that knows anythingabout art “ finds out about Will he makes it clear Alex should be leftalone. Anna (Carla Navarro) is another employeewho is sweet but directionless, and wholoves to read but rarely gets the ending that she desires. She tries tobefriend Will but finds connecting with him to be difficult.
The play starts as a comedy pushing the buttons and the comfrontlevel of the characters, and the audience, with increasingly fraught situations(and Pauline’s language). As Alex’s disdain for Will slowly dissolves intocuriosity painful truths are uncovered for everyone.
Will has moved down to the area not just to connect with hisson, but also to escape his past from a controlling religious cult and the rolehis belief indirectly played in the death of a young man. Alex has more in common with Will than justsocial awkwardness – he is also looking for connection and a sense of belongingand being understood.
Leroy may try seek attention and admiration from a limp attemptat shock value art via clothing, but his pursuit of an MFA and his devotion toAlex shows a softer side. Anna isforever stuck wanting more but unable to find the backbone to truly change hercircumstances. Pauline just wants thestore that she has put her blood, sweat, and tears into to succeed – even withthis dysfunctional staff of hers.
The entire cast is top notch and as these characters unravelyou can see they are all fighting a sense of loneliness, and disconnection fromthe world around them. Each is trying touse something – literature, work, art, music, and religious beliefs – to bringa sense of order and meaning to their lives. After all, as Will says, “Otherwise, I’m a bad father working at a HobbyLobby, living in his car.”
Maya is excellent as the strictly religious and intense Will,matched by Wade’s intense but impressionable Alex. Stephenson is very funny andbelievable as the perpetually annoyed Pauline who is trying to avoid having todo employee conflict resolution and Navarro’s Anna is sweet and strikes theright balance of wishing for better things but lacking the drive to make ithappen. Rodriguez as Leroy is both fierceand funny as the older brother trying to keep the only family he loves fromfalling apart.
Directed by James P. Darvas the show is an interestingexploration on decisions we make, how people try to impose order and findmeaning in the chaos that is our lives, while remaining darkly funny, poignant, and thoughtprovoking.
A BRIGHT NEW BOISE is playing at OnStage Playhouse in Chula Vista throughSeptember 1st. For theatre ticket and show time information go to www.onstageplayhouse.org