Something Past In Front of the Light presented by Longacre Lea Productions at Catholic University Drama Complex

Something Past In Front of the Light

Catholic University Drama Complex
3801 Harewood Road NE Washington

What would you do if the Devil wanted to collaborate with you on a documentary film about himself? Would you fear for your soul or just your artistic integrity? Would you be more concerned that the Devil might do an Alan Smithee or that he might prematurely damn the film's narrator? And would you have the nerve to ask him why he always has the munchies and what in Hell it is he's eating? A comic and horrifying matchup between a Humanist and The Beast.

Presented by Longacre Lea Productions

Thru - Sep 4, 2011

Wednesdays: 7:30pm

Thursdays: 7:30pm

Fridays: 7:30pm

Saturdays: 7:30pm

Sundays: 2:00pm

Price: $12-$18

Show Type: Comedy/Drama

Running Time: 2 hrs, 35 minutes with 1 intermission

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Something Past In Front of the Light Reviews

Average Rating based on 5 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Washington Post - Recommended

"...The arguments eventually grow pretty fine-grained, and by the second act you may suspect that a little more dramatic compression is possible. But the play is lively and unceasingly smart, and it’s getting a darned good premiere."

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- Nelson Pressley

DCist - Somewhat Recommended

"...Something Past features clever intertextuality, some funny moments, and some points of terror, but unfortunately it also suffers from its subject. Ackerley set out to write the most-true play about the Devil. She may have succeeded. But her Devil is so different, so alien to humanity that, when he is not lying, the truth he tells cannot be understood. In the play, the Devil claims to have killed someone. Then he insists he didn't. Then he gets semantic. At no point do we actually find out what happened, which is frustrating after the second hour. The play ends with nothing being resolved, with no reason for anything that has happened, and no way to comprehend it. Even the ending is so confusing that the audience did not even know if it ought to exit, even after most of the actors took their bows."

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- Andrej Krasnansky

Washington City Paper - Somewhat Recommended

"...It’s a brilliant idea that would also make a great sketch on Saturday Night Live. I say that as a compliment. But as a two-and-a-half-hour play, Something Past gets to be a pretentious slog. Like a Latin mass, it can be tough to follow even if you give it your full attention. And when it’s over, you have to wonder whether there’s any redemptive value in such a ritualistic exercise."

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- Rebecca J. Ritzel

MD Theatre Guide - Recommended

"...I feel that I could ‘maybe’ fully appreciate the nuances of the play after sitting down with the script and reading it through several times, but not with just a once-over. While the dialogue is convoluted, the plot itself is interesting, and the acting is remarkable. In a final moment of genius, Henley remains sitting during the curtain call in the same position of shock that he ended the play with, causing Strain to playfully walk up and nod his frozen head for him. He remains this way until the very last person files out of the theatre. If this play left me with one thing, it was a deep respect for acting as a craft, as I poked my head back through the door after I left and saw him still sitting there, eyes wide."

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- Julia Exline

DCTheatreScene - Highly Recommended

Something Past in Front of the Light is “The Exorcist” for grownups. Playwright Kathleen Akerley’s genius script recognizes, as “The Exorcist” did not, that Satan (Alexander Strain), or “Stan” as he is familiarly called here, does not torment the innocent. To win Satan’s special attention you must invite him, as you must invite Dracula, into your house.

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- Tim Treanor

Something Past In Front of the Light presented by Longacre Lea Productions at Catholic University Drama Complex