No family is perfect – just look at the Penrose family presented in the play, “Sabbath Night in the Church of the Piranha.” Performed by Taking Flight Theatre at NOVA’s Loudoun campus from Oct. 8 through 23, the play allowed the audience a glimpse into the dysfunction and wounds that family can inflict upon each other.

Written by Edward Falco, a professor at Virginia Tech, “Sabbath Night in the Church of the Piranha” tells the story of Chris, his mother Una Penrose, her mother Marilyn and Chris’ girlfriend Paddy. Chris has recently returned to living with his mother after his parents’ divorce, provoking tension between Chris and Una over his clothing, his girlfriend and the religion he “founded,” the Church of the Piranha. On the eve of the Sabbath Night for his religion, Marilyn comes to visit unannounced, and wreaks havoc on the Penrose household.

The theme of wounds and the baggage in families is apparent before the actors even stepped onto the stage. Set Designer and Set Dresser, Kevin King and Christine Spata, respectively, did a fantastic job of creating a stage full of artfully composed piles of junk. The raked stage, painted with a cracked glass motif, was slightly less effective. It came off a bit two-dimensional but provided a way for the audience to see all the props, even those set far upstage.

The play’s strongest performance came from Una, played by Marianne Meyers. Her control over such a tumultuous character was laudable – one minute playing the unsure mother, another the belligerent daughter. Meyers explored Una’s search for independence and freedom with a subtlety that kept the audience involved, not excluded.

The other characters, though not distracting, couldn’t always keep up with Meyers’ driving performance.  The main flaw of Chris, played by Wayne Jacques, and Paddy, played by Allegra Joffe, was that they simply could not play 15-year-olds convincingly due to their age. Many of the lines would have seemed appropriate coming from a teenager but felt a little forced when delivered by actors in their 20s.

Marylee N. Girardi, who played Marilyn, provided an acceptable foil to the high-strung Una and, with her prim and conservative character, easily brought the generation gap into clear focus.

Director Haley Murphy’s vision was apparent through the performance. She found a multitude of ways to reinforce the question she asked in her Director’s Notes: “…What does it take to open up a wound again and allow healing to begin?” Unfortunately, this weighty question isn’t easily solved in a lifetime let alone a two-hour play. And while “Sabbath Night in the Church of the Piranha” makes a valiant attempt to tackle the complicated issue, they fell just short of providing enough of a sense of resolution to make for a satisfying night of theater.

By: Traci J. Brooks

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