Writer: Gabriel Jason Dean
Director: Ari Laura Kreith
This drama is based on the true story of a writer whose brother is serving a life sentence for murder. From that already intriguing premiss comes a story of contrasts and conflicts over an epic timespan. Outside Brother (Blake Stadnik) is a progressive novelist, a ‘liberal’ in American terminology, whereas Inside Brother (Matt Monaco) belongs to a white supremacist gang in his prison.
Gabriel Jason Dean conveys extremely well the brittle nature of their interactions, which include frequent standoffs and gaps in contact lasting years. Yet there’s something that prevents them from losing touch altogether: they are brothers. They have just enough shared history, enough of a bond, to scrape by with some form of a relationship. The play charts how this changes over the years in a series of snapshot scenes, while it also unspools the men’s traumatic backstory.
The key to the script’s success is in its selection of events and its focus on turning-points. For obvious reasons, those events are limited in scope. For instance, Inside Brother drives urgent discussion of his parole prospects. Outside Brother wants to hear the truth about the crime. They argue over past events.
In other hands this piece might have been long and dull. Instead, the writing is sharp and the energy and intensity of the performances is gripping, with director Ari Laura Kreith and dramaturg Natasha Lindsey coaxing every ounce of sweat and commitment from the two players. The language is understandably functional, which keeps our attention on the issues under discussion and the brothers’ contrasting body language.
The set is simple but effective, with various projected legends conveying the oppressive nature of the prison rules. As you’d expect, this is bleak material and definitely not a bundle of laughs, though there are a few funny moments. You need a certain level of fortitude to enjoy it and you might want to think twice before suggesting it as a date at the theatre. But the play is engaging and insightful, clocking in at a brisk one hour and twenty minutes.
It’s worth mentioning as an aside from the show’s programme that actor Blake Stadnik (Outside Brother) has a serious visual impairment and is legally blind. That’s something nobody attending this performance could have guessed. Blake is an advocate for all artists with disabilities. He writes: ‘The world is full of unexamined and unique perspectives; let us finally tell their stories.’ Absolutely.
Runs until 24 August 2025
