←Recommendations of P, B, & Jane

"P, B, & Jane" is tough, dark, intense, and unflinching. It is deeply theatrical and deeply psychological in showing Jane remembering trauma and juxtaposing it with the silliness of performing improv comedy. There is such friction between the two that it would have been unbearable if not for Ava Love Hanna's deft skill.

One of the foundational principles of Improv is that they are no mistakes. I wonder if Jane still feels this way after this particular comedy show, which keeps finding ways to repeatedly jab its rubber knives into her most soft and sensitive inner scars. You start out laughing at the humor of it all; but then, as Jane’s comic mask slips, you realize that things here are nowhere as funny as her troupe partners P & B have been making them. There is some real pathos hidden within this outwardly comical package.

What's funny is... this play is classified as a dark comedy but I see it as brilliant straight up horror! We're invited into a comedy club that turns into a deeply haunted hall of mirrors. The journey has a dreamlike quality that uses openly comic theatricality to create stark episodes into a troubled past. Hanna skillfully keeps the time-hopping rooted in the present as the titular Jane carries her trauma with her onstage. Alas, her chosen method of expression may not be enough to expel her demons.

Improv is a tool to finding authentic reactions. This wildly clever comic-tragedy exposes the feelings that lurk beneath the day to day performances we put on to hide our traumas.

This hilarious short play uses the metaphor of improv to get at the mashup of pain and humor that is life. A fast-paced and fun romp, it manages to address a very serious issue: how do we cope with experiences that undermine our basic ability to accept and love ourselves? If laughter is the best medicine, this is good medicine indeed!

Ava Love Hanna obviously knows improv, obviously knows pain, and definitely knows how to make a side-splittingly funny stew from both of them. P, B & JANE is fast, funny, poignant, and heartbreaking. A terrific, easy-to-mount-anywhere comic gem which deserves to be done Everywhere. This one will stick with you.