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Almost Exactly Like Us

Gremlin Theatre, Almost Exactly Like Us

Reality may take a hit in Almost Exactly Like Us, but the truth of human nature makes this new play by Alan Berks - currently receiving its world premiere by the Gremlin Theatre - ring with more truth than most "realistic" shows.

It opens in an unnamed war-torn country where Michael (Peter Hansen) strikes up a conversation with Zoe (Emily Gunyou). The two have little in common - they are both English speakers in a country where most of the population may understand "hello," but little else. Both of them are hiding secrets - Zoe teaches English to the natives, but is hiding from her past. Michael cannot escape the horrors of his past and has traveled to this country to confront the source of his pain. He has been joined by Anders (Anthony Brown), his brother-in-law. Two years earlier, Michael’s wife (and Anders’ sister) was killed in a terrorist bombing. Michael, a mathematician, searches for order through his revenge, while Anders tries to find solace in spreading the word of Christ. Zoe is both dragged into their world, but also drags them into hers, resulting in greater loss for them all.

And that’s act one. Act two opens again with Michael striking up a conversation with Zoe. Only this time, they are in the United States, at an unnamed Midwestern Christian college. They are the same people, but now locked into another situation. Here, Michael’s wife, Helen (Shannon Rusten) is alive, but finds herself increasingly constricted by the ordered life Michael has built for the two. Anders is here as well, as a non-believing eternal student at the college.

Again, the characters try to reach out to each other, but fail again through a lack of communication and ability to move beyond their own personal borders into a new world. Another blackout. And we are in a third version of the world, this one a true hell on Earth. This time, the only survivors are Anders and Zoe, but even in this darkest of worlds, their faults threaten to keep them apart.

Playing with time is one of the real powers of the theater. After all, the audience is already expecting a ritual of artifice with actors and sets, why not also play with the very structure of reality. For the most part, playwright Berks does a good job with the concept. Instead of focusing on the "gee whiz, isn't this cool" aspect, he quickly moves beyond that into much fertile territory - who are we and, given the chance, can we change our nature? What is freedom, not just the idea of democracy, but as to free will? And maybe most important, how different are we from each other?

Berks also crafts interesting characters to inhabit his world. Made up of infinite shades of gray, the quartet of characters shift in our sympathies as they try to navigate a complex mine field of emotions, ideals and external and internal conflicts.

The quartet give uniformly fine performances, with Brown and Gunyou showing considerable chemistry in their scenes together. Berks hides it for much of the show, but Almost Exactly Like Us is as much about these two characters and their search for meaning as it is about Michael and his search for order. Almost Exactly Like Us is one of the best shows of the young Twin Cities theatrical year and is highly recommended for anyone interested in the search as much as the answers.

Almost Exactly Like Us runs through March 24 at the Loading Dock Theater, St. Paul. For more information and tickets, call (651) 228-7008 or visit www.gremlintheatre.org.