Sweet Storm Review: Loved It!

For The Daily Gazette *Date:* February 1, 2010

Elements combine to create refreshing, gentle '*Sweet* *Storm*'

*Author(s):* Matthew G. Moross

CAMBRIDGE -- Sometimes one can be charmed by what seems to be the
slightest of scripts. A smile comes to your face and stays there for the
whole of the play. You find yourself transfixed by an idea so odd and
fresh, you are not completely aware of what is lurking underneath. It is
on the ride home from the theater when the processing and revelations
take place. Such is the case with The Theater Company of Hubbard Hall's
current production of Scott Hudson's "*Sweet* *Storm*" running through
Feb. 7. Running a scant 70 minutes, "*Sweet* *Storm*" is a one-act comic
charmer with an absurd premise, gentle restraint, winning cast and a
deceptively simple little theme.

Set in 1960's Florida during an approaching ominous summer *storm*, the
play follows newlyweds Ruthie and Bo. In their arboreal honeymoon suite
in the sky, a tree house that Bo has built as a romantic gesture to his
bride, they start to explore the future from the view above. Ruthie's
initial excitement and surprise turns to doubt and fear and the two see
that their ideas of happiness and marriage may not be in synch.

The future will bring many unforeseen dramas and frightening situations.
How will they prepare? As the *storm* grows closer, Bo and Ruthie
struggle to brace themselves against forces both inside and outside
while presenting a story which challenges our perception of trust, faith
and love.

In a delicate play like this one, careful watch must be applied not to
force, cajole, trick, dazzle or manipulate the audience into a feeling
or an emotion. It just needs to breathe and be. Under the watchful eye
of director Dina Janis, cast members Remy Bennett and Monroe Robertson
manage to not only get the emotional honesty each of their character's
require, but are able to maintain that honesty for the duration of the
evening, a feat not easy in a fable so fanciful and one that borders so
close to fantasy.

Robertson as Bo, the enlivened parson, finds all the earnest and
eagerness that young faith can embody. Robertson's small awkward actions
as a man of the cloth experiencing the land of the lustful and the
fervent wish to redeem the emotionally crippled is engaging and appealing.

As the sensitive and melodramatic young bride Ruthie, Bennett succeeds
in revealing a wounded girl who has lost her faith as she struggles with
the notion of trust and opening up to its power to heal. Bennett's
performance is chock full of nuance and offers clues of what the future
holds for both Ruthie and her spouse.

With a simple setting full of tree branches, gardenias and glimpses of
hope, the evening succeeds in both charming us and puzzling us all at
once, leaving us wondering if what we have witnessed is the start of
something good or a vision that will be washed away by the impending
deluge. *Sweet* *Storm* is a parable which will leave you refreshed as
the air on a hot summer's night after a cloudburst of rain.

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