Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Nicola Wren’s REPLAY is a potent solo show about deep-seated grief

• By drediman
• May 11, 2018
• No Comments

Nicola Wren in “Replay” at 59E59 Theaters.

The Brits Off Broadway festival continues its winning streak at 59E59 Theaters with Replay, a solo show about deep-seated grief written and performed by Nicola Wren. Although the play has a running time of less than an hour, I didn’t feel short-changed. The play tells the story of a woman who, years later, is still grappling with loss of her big brother, who committed suicide when she was a girl.

Ms. Wren plays multiple characters adeptly – indeed, she slips in and out of roles with great ease and admirable commitment to her text. Most memorably, our heroine replays one of her final encounters with her brother during a trip to London to visit him. Adult actors playing children can be a cloying proposition, but Ms. Wren does so with grace and naturalness. When she transitions back to her adult self, it’s heartbreakingly evident that she is still very much that child (aren’t we all?), lost without her big brother.

Replay is being given an elegantly simple, focused production – traits shared by the play itself – by director George Chilcott. The play and production are powerful reminders of how potent the one-person format is. Sometimes using our collective mind’s eye is among the most effective forms of theater.

RECOMMENDED

REPLAY
Off-Broadway, Play
Brits Off Broadway: DugOut Theatre at 59E59 Theaters
55 minutes (without an intermission)
Through May 13