School of the Intense

Nothing like a little death in the afternoon.

A friend and I made the trek out Patterson Avenue to the West End to the Hatt Theater to see "Gidion's Knot," an award-winning play about which I knew nothing.

Walking in to the theater felt like walking into a schoolroom, complete with school desks in front of the audience's seats.

What we were too slow to realize was that those desks were seats for the show, instead ending up in the back row of the tiny theater.

The two-actor play dealt with a parent-teacher conference after the woman's son was suspended.

Both actresses played their roles to the hilt, one inhabiting the distraught and angry mother and the other the reluctant, upset teacher responsible for the 5th grader's suspension.

Over the course of the next 80 minutes, we were caught up in issues of bullying, homosexuality, suicide, the responsibility of parenting and how much creativity is too much.

As if that weren't enough, there was also the unbearable discussion of putting a beloved pet down.

Honestly, it was far more than I'd been prepared to deal with on a muggy, Sunday afternoon.

Fortunately, there were occasional moments of levity, albeit dark-tinged, serving as much-needed release valves.

When the teacher admits to having changed careers after years in advertising, the mother shoots back unsympathetically, "Aw, did you turn 40 and have a midlife crisis?"

Likewise, her caustic observation, "You're not a liar, which is surprising given your background in advertising."

By the end of the play, I was mentally exhausted by the heartbreak that had been the subject of their "discussion," almost as if it had happened to me.

Just like the characters, I felt wrung out by the fever pitch of the unresolved situations that had been sustained throughout the play as we applauded two stellar performances.

And isn't that what really good theater is supposed to do?