The play takes place on one day in the life of a typical American family. But we soon find out that this family is dealing with unimaginable trauma from a gun-related accident in the home six years ago. A visit by a social worker prompts conversations about this event that they seem to otherwise try not to think about. Dad is a proud hunter and gun-owner, working double shifts to put his kids through college, serving as a medic for the National Guard. Mom is busy with laundry and household tasks, including shooting a snake that's gotten into the henhouse, telling youngest daughter Ruthie (who was a baby when the accident happened and therefore the only carefree member of the family) she's too young to know the code on the gun safe. Oldest daughter Kaylee has been out all night and no one knows where she is or when she'll return. Adam, the second oldest child and the reason for the social worker's visit, spends most of the play up in his room, until he enters the action late in the play. The social worker is there to decide if this family is ready to move on to the next phase in their recovery, and spoiler alert - they're not. Whatever systems are in place to help families like this are failing them, because it's six years later and these people are not OK. Not in the least.
Local theater and film director Patrick Coyle directs the piece, and keeps the tension building throughout, with a few needed breaks of humor, and really conveys a feeling of a typical day in a typical family, but with trauma. However, the intermission in what should be an 80-minute-no-intermission play breaks the momentum of the story. This family didn't get a break from their trauma in six years, the audience shouldn't either; sitting with this intense story for 80 minutes straight would be more effective.
The talented cast of adult and child actors really make us feel for these characters, who are all at times unlikeable but always human and real. Three Saints' founder and Artistic Director Matt Wall, whom I've enjoyed watching on multiple stages around town over the last ten years, plays the family patriarch and gives a very believable performance as this grieving father who doesn't have time to grieve. Molly Ryman plays the busy mom, with a stunning descent into madness. Rachel Damiani is very calm and measured as a social worker should be, until she too gets pulled into the family drama. Young actors Maisy June Wall (Matt's daughter), Gus Nelson, and Emmaline Greeninger play the kids and do well with the dark material, going toe-to-toe with the pros.
The performance space at the Hive has been turned into a very cluttered and lived-in home, a kitchen/dining room/living room combo with toys and clothes scattered everywhere. A wall of photos shows the family as it was and as it is, the kitchen is overflowing with dishes and food, doors exit to all sides, and a flight of stairs ascends behind a wall giving the illusion of a second story. Lighting and sound design accent the dramatic moments, and the family is dressed in everyday casual clothes, contrasting with the social worker's neat trousers and cardigan. (Set design by Vanessa Miles and Jeffrey Sherman, sound design by Katharine Horowitz, costume design by Lily Turner, props design by Bobbie Smith, and lighting design by Tracy V. Joe.)
One in the Chamber is not an easy play to watch, and will leave you with an unsettled feeling. It offers no solutions to the ever-increasing problem of gun violence in this country, but it does put a very human face, or faces, on the victims who continue to suffer and grieve long after the event has passed and the rest of the world has moved on. Congratulations to Three Saints Theater Company on a strong debut, and for choosing this diffucult but necessary play as their first.