To See or Not to See: Replay

Loss, forgiveness, and love are the centerpieces of the brilliantly-done one-woman play Replay.

Written and performed by Nicola Wren and directed by George Chilcott, Replay‘s U.S. premiere is at the Brits Off-Broadway Festival at 59E59 Theaters.

Set in a small theater (with a minimalistic set design by Jen McGinley), the audience is a participant of W’s (Nicola Wren) story. She feeds us her story, bit by bit, and addresses us as it goes along, creating an intimate connection between performer and audience.

W is preparing for an important job interview. She’s currently a police officer in London, but is hoping to become her area’s Sargent. She walks us through the events of the days leading up to her interview–the first of which also happens to be her birthday. After an eventful day of work, W returns to her apartment to find a birthday package from her mother. Inside is a cassette tape her mother found. It is a tape W’s older brother Jamie (voiced by Mark Weinman), now deceased, recorded for her birthday decades earlier. When W finally listens to it, memories and feelings she has suppressed emerge.

Nicola Wren does a wonderful job of bringing all the characters, whether physically present or not, to life on stage. She seamlessly transitions from scene to scene and from the present to the past. There is a beautifully done scene featuring the song “Sit Down” that packs an emotional wallop of the best kind. The complex set of emotions that she brings to W are real and tangible.

Needless to say, this is a memorable production. Replay runs only an hour, but what an hour it is.

For more information and to buy tickets (the show runs through May 13, 2018), click here. 

Photo Credit: 59E59 Theaters