←Recommendations of unconformity

A deeply moving ensemble piece tracking tectonic shifts of grief. Beautiful rhythm to the dialogue and some really juicy monologues in here for hungry actors!

O to have Shealy's gift for nuanced metaphor and language! Shealy masterfully finds a connection between a geological anomaly and the layers of grief that can also deeply affect someone's journey through life - whether it's romance, career, family, you name it. Shealy has such a grasp on language - so many wonderful moments of poetry that give insight to how we live, who we love and protect, and how we might look more deeply at the details of the world on which we literally walk.

I watched Unconformity take shape this past year in The Road Theater’s playwrights group, and I admire this play so much — in particular, the way science and grief intersects with such beautiful specificity. An unconformity in geology is a break in time in an otherwise continuous rock record (a thing I did not know until this play!), and there’s a break in Christine’s life as well with the loss of Ari. The struggle (and failure) to repair that break, to answer unanswerable questions, drives her - and that drive is poignant and relatable.

I was lucky enough to work with Mak in a play development program, so first just let me say what generous, sharp, boundless force of nature Mak is in the room! Unconformity has a brilliant central metaphor--the shifting plates of the earth itself. Over years, how can people make sense of each other? This play asks great questions about the human heart, about the roles we play in each others' lives. Pep is a fantastic creation--a young character that truly stays with you.