Theater Thursday - Tiny Beautiful Things

What: Tiny Beautiful Things 

Where: George Street Playhouse Online

Who: Ages 18 and Up

When: Through May 23, 2021

Tiny Beautiful Things is a show based on Cheryl Strayed's book of the same name. The show, which is told in the form of letters, revolves around an advice columnist answering the letters people send to her. The advice given covers a wide variety of topics including things like drug use, child sexual abuse, and the death of a child all of which make the show highly inpropriate for children.

Even though there is not a  linear plot nor a lot of action in the show, except for characters engaging in every day activities like eating and drinking, the show moves along fairly quickly. There is enough variety of topics within the letters to keep the show interesting. However, as was shown by the topics previously mentioned, many of the topics covered are quite heavy so if you are interested in a light little show, this is not it. 

This is not  a show about a know-it-all main character giving advice to those less fortunate than herself.  There is much more to her than that. She bares her soul  to her readers drawing on her own experiences in order give the advice she gives. She has been through quite a lot herself including enstrangment from her mother, drug addiction and abuse. Thus,  the role covers a wide gamut of emotional territory, and the actress playing the part, Laiona Michelle,  really shines. The other actors who all play a series of different roles as the various letter writers also have quite a gamut of emotions to cover, and they all do a great job of it as well, particularly, John Bolger, who at one point plays a griefing father. If you are a regular attendee at George Street Playhouse shows, you will recoginize the cast members.  All of them have been in a show at the George Street Playhouse within the past few years, and most of them have been in more than one show there. 

Even though the show is kind of heavy, it is ultimately uplifting. It shows that if the main character can go through everything she has gone through and come out okay than so can all her readers and so can we all. This is a message which particularly resonates after what we have all been through in the past year or so.

And that's our view. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit georgestreetplayhouse.org.

Tune in Sunday for this week's Sunday Scoop. 

Photo credit: Tiny Beautiful Things production photo by Michael Boylan