Difficulties bring us together

By ADAM CROWE
A Seat on the Aisle

American Lives Theatre (ALT) is one of several arts organizations in residence at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Center in downtown Indianapolis. In the tumult of the post-COVID arts landscape, the addition of multiple arts groups to this space is a bright spot.

ALT has produced a number of exceptional productions over the past four years and its latest such offering is Samuel D. Hunter’s A Case for the Existence of God.

Hunter’s play is a tour de force for two actors, and the ALT cast is up to the task. Eric Reiberg plays Ryan, a man with little to speak of in terms of worldly goods. He has a need to buy some local Idaho land, which was once owned by his family, as the source of his and his daughter’s future. Eric Thompson plays Keith, a mortgage broker who runs into Ryan at the daycare where each has a daughter. Ryan needs Keith and his skills. Keith’s needs are slower to reveal themselves but prove just as compelling.

Eric Reiberg as Ryan confers with Eric Thompson as Keith in ALT’s A Case for the Existence of God. (Photo by Rob Slaven / IndyGhostLight.com)

Over 90 (intermission free) minutes, these two characters pull the audience into a tale of American trauma: familial, legal, economic, racial, and more. The audience will not likely see all the twists coming from Hunter’s tight script, but the rewards are there.

Directed by Andrew Kramer, with a lighting design by Tim Dick, A Case for the Existence of God is the latest in a line of thoughtful and surprising plays from ALT. With only one weekend left, audiences need to step up quickly to see for themselves if the case for the existence of God is proven.

American Lives Theatre’s production of A Case for the Existence of God runs at Phoenix Theater Cultural Center through Sunday, April 28. Tickets are available through the Phoenix website at phoenixtheatre.org or by calling (317) 635-7529.

Read more great play reviews from A Seat on the Aisle at asota.wordpress.com.