Photo by Szone Shoots
Keep The Faith Theater Ministry’s Picking Up the Broken Pieces was staged in a limited engagement this past weekend at the intimate space of Next Act Theatre. Written and directed by Demetrius Truss, the show was intricately woven around the talents of a vibrant cast. A series of vignettes set in a hotel pulled together drama, comedy, soulful vocals and spoken word. Individual moments could be quite powerful as the drama delved into a variety of different moods and subjects from obsession to marital infidelity to cancer.
The show began as a workplace comedy as characters arrived in the lobby of the King’s Palace Hotel. Truss’ script establishes conflicts for all of the characters in the ensemble before intermission and proceeds to resolve them all afterwards. Scenes and characters alternated through a very episodic story that felt refreshingly unpredictable and pleasantly patchwork. It was a bit like a variety show. It was a bit like a soap opera. It was a bit like a musical. Truss blends diverse talents together in a way that keeps them from feeling too discordant. At one point there’s music and singing. A little while later there’s a gun. Tragedy strikes without warning. The momentum for the overall story of Picking Up the Broken Pieces was shattered and scattered, but Truss is so good at putting a show like this together that it doesn’t really seem to matter. A show like this is far too unique an experience to be disappointing.
For information on upcoming shows by Keep The Faith Theater Ministry, visit ktf-productions.com.
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