In a small theater, with seats that sprawled onto the sides of the stage floor as well, stood a seemingly low-budget (but not low-quality mind you) set with a star-studded cast that included Seth Gilliam (The Wire, Walking Dead). The stage was kept very simple, with only one major set change during the intermission occurring. There wasn’t a catwalk due to the size, nor large budget set pieces despite the story and cast, yet it still set out to accomplish its goals. The production utilized clever techniques to help add to the story and setting. One example was when our main protagonist Eugene, in an effort to prove that his once prop shotgun is now real, shoots the ceiling, causing small pieces to actually fall on the floor near the audience. Sound also played a large role in this story, with the sounds of cars passing by reflecting the busy city setting without needing props, or sounds of fighting in the background helping us understand what our main cast was up to in the meantime while other characters filled the stage without effects or a larger cast.

I did not feel like the small scale of this performance hindered the overall experience, in fact, it may have added to it. Reading the description, one could expect a huge action-packed extravaganza full of fancy effects and set pieces. However, what was presented was a much more personal story that gave us a closer look into the colorful personalities that inhabit this world. Our main cast in this story are 4 people in the modern day, Eugene, Enid, Otis, and Earl. They are recruited by a demon in a plot to kidnap Satan and have him meet with God to combine both heaven and hell.  

I enjoyed the story, and the performances were really well done. However, I feel that the play was a bit short, with most of the action (going into the afterlife, fighting angels, etc) being skipped over. That can perhaps be the nature of live performance in general, as I believe that a longer form factor of entertainment could have helped with that. That being said, I enjoyed what was presented.  The meat and bones of the production were the actors. They played their characters with great charisma that felt all the more real watching it live in person, even with the occasional half-second flub (but that adds a nice sense of realism). At times, I forgot that these were characters as the actors made them feel like they were themselves on stage, despite the lovably campy nature of the story itself. This made the last 20 or so minutes of the play, arguably the most important section of it, hit even harder, as we feel these characters’ plights and emotions as if we were in the group itself. God and Satan themselves were given interesting personalities that made them feel fresh, fun, and even a bit human. Every character in the play has motivations and depth that make the production stay interesting. 

The humor in this story plays a huge role as well. It utilizes a mix of crude and thought-provoking jokes that work well within its world. It’s probably the only story I’ve seen where a demon would make a great point about the complexity of humanity not correlating with the black-and-white nature of the afterlife while having a red strap-on dildo pointed toward the crowd. A lot of focus was placed on contemporary issues, from race, gender, sexual orientation, privilege, and its connection to larger themes of purpose, guilt, forgiveness, and love. If anything, I was left wanting more from this world, and I believe that the topic of afterlife convergence was one of the more interesting and engaging storylines I have heard about, and would love to see it explored more thoroughly (with its cast and creator, it can be a fine transition to television). 

In all, I would encourage anyone who’s into humorous social commentary and satire to give this play a chance (ignoring the fact that I attended the last showing of this production), as it was a great example of the phrase “a little goes a long way”. Despite setbacks and delays due to the pandemic, this play managed to deliver a fun, and most importantly human, story amidst the convergence of heaven and hell. It weaves these stories with its humor in order to give a great performance that also managed to feel cozy and comfortable despite its deep premise, and was a fun experience that deserves to be checked out.