FRINGE REVIEW: God of Obsidian

I can’t recall a time when an audience has responded so viscerally during a production.  I was feeling it right there with them.  GOD OF OBSIDIAN is a sharper than a tack, taking what could have been a polarizingly preachy topic and making it accessible to everyone.  You can find subtext throughout the script, or you can enjoy it as a character study.  I chose to do both.

Mac Rogers, the playwright, stars as “Nathan.”  “Alice,” the stunning Rebecca Comtois, is a woman who falls in love with him.  He’s charming, but more than that he’s a very subtle manipulator . . . at first.  Increasingly controlling, but always in the most gaslighty of ways.  It’s horrifying and superbly entertaining.

Rogers is convincing in his role; you could see Rebecca is immediately taken in.  It’s also easy to understand why she would stay – as it became apparent to the vocal and expressive audience what was happening, she was slow to catch up.  And appropriately so.

Both actors do a masterful job and this script is one of the best Fringe pieces of the last several years.  I appreciate the allusions being made to our current political landscape, but also found the playwright’s notes in the program thoughtful and provoking.

With a minimal but imaginative set, two very talented actors, and a powerful, passionate script GOD OF OBISIDAN is not to be missed.

GOD OF OBSIDIAN runs again at Gabriel’s Corner on Monday, June 5th at 7:45pm.  Click here for more information.