Benchwarmers 14

(Santa Fe Playhouse, 12 June 2015)

In the production, the actors perform with the zest and urgency of college students. Some of the actors have alternative careers. Just as college students, these actors are on stage because they are passionate about theatre and are eager to be a part of the conversation, not because they have nowhere else to go.

Some are good character actors. Jonathan Dixon, also the playwright and the director, excels in "Daniel and the Autumn Folk." Individuals seek reassurance in the smallest of indications from the strangest of sources. They know what they want, but they need an external indication that the vision they seek is plausible. Melissa Chambers, in "Visible," articulates the human need to see and be seen. Francesca Shrady, in "May Sarton Dreams Deep," lends youthful respectability to the condition of not knowing.

There is little new to be said about what most people would care to know. And better ways of saying are hard to come by. Nevertheless, the progress of the civilisation relies on the incremental revision of questions and the refinement of answers. Adventurous spirits churn out new plays. The public bravely devours novelty. The civilisation advances.