White Noise
516 1/2 8th St SE Washington
Tom Block's first play White Noise follows an African-American painter whose work is based on spiritual themes, as he travels to Detroit for an art exhibit of his work. At first calm, mature and erudite, Tim meets a seemingly normal cast of characters, who are volunteers with the church arts committee where Tim is to exhibit his paintings. However, the increasingly bizarre and hostile interactions tweak at his interior demons. Tim struggles with and then succumbs to his own fixations, as a scantily-clad Simone Weil, a historical figure that metastasizes as a figment of his own imagination, closes in on him. Having abandoned true faith, Tim grasps for "faith in faith," and in the end finds dubious understanding, alone in a bathroom.
Thru - Jun 10, 2012