THE BASICS: THE THIN PLACE, a play by Lucas Hnath, directed by Scott Behrend, presented by Road Less Traveled Productions, starring Renee Landrigan, Margaret Massman, Kristen Tripp Kelley, and David Mitchell. February 23 – March 26 Thursdays – Saturdays at 7:30, Sundays at 2:00 at the RLTP Theatre, 456 Main Street, Buffalo 14202 (716) 629-3069 roadlesstraveledproductions.org
Runtime: 90 minutes with no intermission. Full-service bar (see feature story here) stays open after Friday and Saturday shows.
THE THIN PLACE BLURB (from the publicity): Everyone who ever died is still here, just in a different part of here. Linda can communicate with them. And if you believe, she can make you hear them, too — in the thin place, the fragile boundary between our world and the other one. Lucas Hnath’s play transforms the theater into an intimate séance, crafting an unnerving testament to the power of the mind, which ‘has a mind of its own.’”
THUMBNAIL SKETCH: On a minimally decorated stage, Hilda (Renee Landrigan) sits comfortably in an armchair sipping tea and observing the audience, telling us that it’s okay to talk, the play hasn’t really started. It’s a little weird, but, hey, this is Road Less Traveled and they do weird well. After a while, Hilda tells us about her grandmother who used to play a game with her trying to project her thoughts into Hilda’s head. Hoping to communicate with her now deceased gramma, and older Hilda is enchanted with Linda (Margaret Massman) a professional medium who holds seances channeling thoughts from the dead back to the living. We soon start to believe that Linda can actually do that. (Hnath is a master at reigning you in.) All the while Hilda is mostly listening. Enter Sylvia (Kristen Tripp Kelley) and Linda’s American cousin Jerry (David Mitchell) who seem to provide a bit of reality, with their talk, talk, talk until you realize that you probably don’t want to get too close to these self-absorbed people. And then Hilda starts to talk. Oh yeah, it’s always the quiet ones.
THE PLAYERS, THE PLAY, AND THE PRODUCTION: Playwright Lucas Hnath said that he always wanted to write a scary play and what he finds scary is that someone can put a thought in your head that you can’t get rid of and that your thoughts can be controlled by others. So we have two women with similar-sounding names, Hilda and Linda, one a seemingly innocent granddaughter who wants to communicate with her grandma and the other a much more worldly medium who has come from England (under suspicious circumstances) to America, the birthplace of Spiritualism, to make money. Renee Landrigan and Margaret Massman are superb in their roles (and kudos to Dialect Coach Jennifer Toohey for giving Massman a consistent accent throughout). Kristen Tripp Kelley and David Mitchell are both, as they always are, superb in their roles as well. A-list actors, all four, and wonderfully directed by Scott Behrend.
Photo courtesy of Gina Gandolfo 2023
Hnath’s genius is writing dialog that draws you in completely, so that you believe that both of these women do in fact have the power to communicate across “the thin place” between the living and the dead. And then, you start to doubt. And Hnath’s other talent is for creating characters who are about to undergo big changes in their points of view, changes in their attitudes that will have profound effects on those around them.
Photos courtesy of Gina Gandolfo 2023
The minimal “black box” set by Dyan Burlingame focuses your eyes on the players, not the production, and Burlingame is assisted by John Rickus’s lights and Katie Menke’s sound. Brenna Prather’s costumes are appropriate but let me heap praise on her for putting the character Jerry in a good-looking suit that fits well. Too many local playhouses often grab something from the costume closet that doesn’t convey what a suit is supposed to convey.
Hnath was Tony Award-nominated for his play A DOLL’S HOUSE, Part 2 in 2017 (seen starring Kristen Tripp Kelley at the Kavinoky Theatre). He is also the writer of THE CHRISTIANS (produced at both RLTP in 2018 and later at Chautauqua), A PUBLIC READING OF AN UNPRODUCED SCREENPLAY ABOUT THE DEATH OF WALT DISNEY (which was, actually, produced at RLTP in 2015), among others.
If you have seen Hnath’s other plays locally, you really must go see this one. He is a powerful writer and this is not-to-be-missed.
*HERD OF BUFFALO (Notes on the Rating System)
ONE BUFFALO: This means trouble. A dreadful play, a highly flawed production, or both. Unless there is some really compelling reason for you to attend (i.e. you are the parent of someone who is in it), give this show a wide berth.
TWO BUFFALOS: Passable, but no great shakes. Either the production is pretty far off base, or the play itself is problematic. Unless you are the sort of person who’s happy just going to the theater, you might look around for something else.
THREE BUFFALOS: I still have my issues, but this is a pretty darn good night at the theater. If you don’t go in with huge expectations, you will probably be pleased.
FOUR BUFFALOS: Both the production and the play are of high caliber. If the genre/content are up your alley, I would make a real effort to attend.
FIVE BUFFALOS: Truly superb–a rare rating. Comedies that leave you weak with laughter, dramas that really touch the heart. Provided that this is the kind of show you like, you’d be a fool to miss it!
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