REVIEW: Chester Theatre Company, “Will Sacrifice”

Chester Theatre Company, Chester, MA

https://chestertheatre.org

through August 4, 2024

by C. L. Blacke

In the wake of 9/11, Manhattanites created a mass exodus to lands beyond the metropolis, buying up property that would become a haven from the grief and trauma that surrounded them in the city.

Bridget, the 50-something-year old main character, in “Will Sacrifice” played by Catherine Lloyd Burns, is no different. Disillusioned by her corporate job, her writer’s block, and her marriage, she takes the first steps towards creating a new life for herself in the Catskills.

Photo by Andrew Greto

Enter Mr. Sunshine (Greg Stuhr). Working on his third divorce, the real estate agent becomes Bridget’s sounding board, whipping post, and confidant as she learns to navigate the ins and outs of first-time home buying (within her cash budget) and her true feelings for her out-of-work-actor husband, Nigel (Ken Cheeseman). She feels weighed down by his depression and pessimism and longs for a space to call her own where she can write poetry again.

The chemistry between Equity actors Burns and Cheeseman, with their back-and-forth bickering and quiet moments of tenderness, carries the play. Burns, who has starred in TV, film, and theater, as well as the author of three published books, transitions seamlessly between a shove on the shoulder, a gentle touch of the hand, and a well of tears in her eyes. Cheeseman, with numerous roles in regional theater, off-Broadway productions, and film, emotes the vulnerability and cantankerousness of growing old with all of its complex nuances. He particularly shines in his final scenes as Nigel navigates the onset of dementia.

Whether depicting the cramped NYC apartment, real estate office, or little blue house in the Catskills, Travis George’s scenic design features an entire set made of cardboard boxes. With just a spin of two flatbeds, the set captures not only the claustrophobic anxiety of NYC living, but also the impermanence of life and the way one can box up both their hopes and fears against the threat of failure.

This world premiere of “Will Sacrifice”, written by Julie McKee and directed by Keria Naughton (a 2019 nominee for Best Direction of a Play by the Berkshire Critics Association), is funny, tragic, and relatable on every level (especially for the over-50 crowd). It explores loss of self, loss of dreams, loss of health, and loss of loved ones. But it also shows that loss is merely another form of change, and with change comes renewed hope and dreams.