Review - Luce

This is my first post done on my office iPad.  Hopefully, things will work out.  Here goes:  after  reading reviews of the new LCT3 production, Luce, I figured I should check it out.  I've enjoyed the other productions I've seen and the subject matter of this one sounded interesting.  Plus, all tickets are $20!  If I had a magic 8-Ball, all signs would point to yes.  :)

JC Lee's Luce opens with a parent-teacher conference.  Both women are bright, articulate and passionate.  They're discussing seventeen-year-old Luce, a young boy adopted by the mother from the Congo when he was seven.  By all accounts, he has successfully adjusted to living in America and is a typical American teen.  But the teacher became concerned by an essay the boy wrote, along with something found in his locker.  The mother cannot accept the possibility the teacher is suggesting: that her son may not be the boy she thinks he is.  What follows is a labyrinth of ambiguity and allusion.  You're never really sure who is telling the truth, or whose version of the truth you should believe.  I felt unease, and unease about my unease, which was fascinating to me.

Photo credit: Jeremy Daniel

The production is terrifically designed and directed, and all of the acting is fantastic, as well.  Marin Hinkle beautifully captures the unconditional love of a mother, Neal Huff is her more skeptical husband, Sharon Washington perfectly captures the ramrod straight teacher who fights for herself first and her students second, and Okierette Onaodowan is perfect as Luce - clearly bright and affectionate, he also suggest more underneath...but maybe not.  Olivia Oguma is also heartbreaking as a classmate of Luce's.  There may be no sadder scene onstage this fall than watching Ms. Oguma try to drown herself inside her Starbucks drink.

The terror of parents -do you ever really know your child - and the struggle of today's overachieving kids, combined with liberal guilt over international adoptions, is all beautifully presented.  The characters all have compelling conversations and speak in complex thoughts that were completely appropriate; I think playwright Lee has a wonderful way with dialogue.  And I appreciated the tightwalk Lee walked with the plotting.  I enjoyed myself thoroughly at Luce, I've enjoyed playing scenes back in my head to see if I can figure out who meant what, and I look forward to what Lee brings us next.