Fear and Hope

Throughout the play, its action and the choices of the characters reflect, to varying degrees, the play’s thematic suggestion that the only way to combat fear is by hanging on to, and acting on, hope. From its first moment (i.e. the reaction of protagonist Erik to a loud, offstage thump), the action of the play and the stories of its characters are defined by experiences of fear. At the play’s conclusion, its central character (Erik) makes a decision that, literally and visually, is a step away from fear and into hope and possibility: he makes his way out of the darkened apartment where he and his family have been celebrating Thanksgiving and into a lighted hallway. In these ways, the two sides of the same coin (fear and hope) form the foundation of the play’s narrative and thematic progressions.

Some...