Ross Zentner
Two men huddle over a desk.
Josh Krause, left, and Jamal James get plenty of space in the two-actor play 'A Case for the Existence of God.'
A Case for the Existence of God explores the moments of connection that can bridge divides and turn loss into something bearable — perhaps even transcendent. Written by Samuel D. Hunter, directed by Jen Uphoff Gray, and performed by Forward Theater Company, the play runs at the Overture Center’s Playhouse through April 13.
Inside a small office in Twin Falls, Idaho, two men from very different backgrounds forge an unlikely friendship as they navigate unfulfilled dreams, fatherhood and loss. Ryan (Josh Krause) is a straight white man trying to get a mortgage, despite his bad credit. He was popular in high school, despite the addiction and mental illness that runs in his family, but now in his thirties, he’s going through a divorce and fighting for joint custody of his 15-month-old daughter. Although he works at a yogurt factory, he dreams of buying the land his family once owned and is willing to do anything to get a loan.
Keith (Jamal James) is a gay Black man from a stable, well-off family who has traveled the world and has a degree in early music and English. His idea of a good time is sipping a glass of whiskey while listening to a polyphonic piece of music from the 10th century. But despite his background, he’s working as a mortgage broker in the small town where he grew up. He dreams of being a father and desperately hopes to adopt the 16-month-old girl he’s been fostering for the last year.
After a chance encounter at their daughters’ daycare center, Ryan winds up in Keith’s office, defensive and jumpy. His hands tremble as he reads the loan paperwork, but refuses Keith’s offer to walk him through it. When Keith receives an emotional phone call, a tenuous thread of connection begins to form between the two men.
As time passes and Ryan and Keith continue to meet, they build a friendship. Their tense, humorous and increasingly vulnerable exchanges reveal the hopes, fears and longings they have kept secret. “We share a specific kind of sadness, you and me,” Ryan remarks during one meeting. It feels as if he’s not just commenting on their particular bond, but the reality of being human in a society that values material success more than connection. “Play by the rules and pretend it all means something, or you don’t get anything,” Keith tells Ryan bitterly. “That’s what most of being an adult is.”
When a play has few actors, there’s little room to hide weaknesses in the performances; here, there’s just more room for James and Krause to shine. They both deliver nuanced performances. Even when their backs are to us, a hunch of the shoulders, a long pause, or a sideways glance reveals volumes.
A Case for the Existence of God is staged in the round with the audience on all sides, and the stage itself rotates during brief interludes of darkness. As the audience’s perspective changes, new layers of intimacy are revealed as the men evolve and discover more about each other — and themselves.
But when an unexpected truth is revealed, Ryan and Keith are thrown into crisis. Their differences in race, class and sexual orientation bubble to the surface in a moment that threatens their entire friendship — as well as the dreams they’ve been working towards.
Can we bear to lose what we’ve built our entire identities around? Can friendship help us weather life’s relentless change and impermanence? A Case for the Existence of God takes us on a deeply satisfying emotional journey that asks big questions but avoids tidy conclusions. The play suggests that God isn’t somewhere “out there” but rather in the small yet life-affirming moments of connection with the people right in front of us.
