Pathological religious belief is the theme of A Bright New Boise, Samuel D. Hunter's 2011 Obie Award-winning play which is now in its West Coast premiere at Rogue Machine Theater. Set in the employee lounge of a Boise department store run in fascistic fashion by a corporate behemoth -- clerks are not only paid starvation wages but controlled by Big Brother rules and regulations -- the play centers on Will (Matthew Elkins), a shambling wreck of a man who has fled his Idaho small town for dark personal reasons.
Will, we soon learn, was a member of a Christian sect devoted to the end-of-world prophesies of The Rapture. On an anointed day, the faithful would get a straight, swift ride to heaven; non-believers would be left behind to burn in the hell-fires of an exploding earth.
Not only did The Rapture fail to occur as promised, a young child died tragically during the resulting religious hysteria. The scandal shut the church down and caused Will to suffer a nervous breakdown.
Now, grievously wounded and humbled, he has taken a job at Hobby Lobby in an attempt to rebuild his life -- and to reconnect with Alex (Erik Odom), his troubled teenaged son whom he gave up for adoption. Alex works at Hobby Lobby, along with his rebellious stepbrother Leroy (Trevor Peterson).
The other employees who figure in the action are Anna (Heather L. Tyler), a timid but goodhearted sales girl, and Pauline (Betsy Zajko), the brassy, foul-mouthed manager of Hobby Lobby.
Much of what happens in Boise is satiric: five misfits struggling to make sense of the mad, mad world of retail sales. Hunter handles this kind of comedy well, but where he excels is in his exploration of the play's larger, more serious themes: play: the father/son relationship; a tentative love story; and--above all--the ferocity of religious belief. Will, disillusioned as he is, simply cannot live without the crutch of The Rapture to support him.
A Bright New Boise is a tough little play which has been expertly brought to life at Rogue Machine by its superb cast and director.
