'A Bright New Boise' at Woolly Mammoth, Washington, D.C.

Samuel D. Hunter’s play, “A Bright New Boise.” Courtesy Photo: Woolly Mammoth Theatre.

What is it about working in Walmart-type settings that’s so depressing?

Perhaps it’s the flickering florescent lighting, white hospital walls and hum-drum workdays that prolong the hours and make us numb.

But at some point, something happens, perhaps a revelation, and we ask ourselves why we’re there and how we got there. Quintessentially, we begin to search; and so it may go that through such osmosis that we embrace faith and religion, or some form of it.

At least, this is the set-up for Samuel D. Hunter’s play, “A Bright New Boise” that is as religiously introspective at times, as it is funny.

As a caveat, I should say that I am not a religious person. However, I can appreciate the sentiment of “Boise” that grapples with the meaning and question of what it is to believe in something greater than ourselves. Hunter is careful to remove his characters from the stereotypical traits of fanaticism that often plague Christianity. Rather, he attempts to explore the depths of faith and devotion through its lead character, Will (Michael Russoto).

Will, we discover, was a member of a religious group (some may consider Evangelical) that gained statewide notoriety due to the death of one of its members, Danny.

As a result of Danny’s death, Will defects from the group, and gets hired as a sales clerk at the local Hobby Lobby, a mega arts and craft store managed by Pauline (Emily Townley), a no-nonsense woman who has single-handedly turned the business into a thriving site. There, he meets the employees, Anna (Kimberly Gilbert) who is a bit eccentric but provides good comic relief, and Leroy (Felipe Cabezas) who spends his time producing t-shirts with slogans that purposely incite anger among those that see them.

We later learn that Will is there to be close to his son, Alex (Joshua Morgan) who works at the shop, and whom he gave up for adoption. Alex is a depressed and slightly disturbed boy who, like his estranged father, is in search for some greater meaning; and throughout the play, the two eventually develop a fragile bond.

For those of you wary of sanctimonious platitudes, “Boise” is never endangered of entering this realm; and it is a credit to Hunter for surfacing a different conversation about the personal meaning of faith versus the caustic debate of why everyone must accept God or face eternal damnation.

However, Hunter, in some respects, seemed so wary of not addressing the derisive aspects of religion that the introspectiveness and discussion of which “Boise” was trying to accomplish is never fully realized.

While we witness the character of Will struggling with his own faith, belief in the Rapture, and as a result, need for redemption, “Boise” doesn’t completely dive into these themes, even as they play out in the story of Will and his son, and what we’re left in the end is the feeling of something incomplete.

Then again, perhaps, this was Hunter’s intent.

A Bright New Boise is written by Samuel D. Hunter and directed by John Vreeke, and runs from October 10th to November 6th at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Washington, DC. Click here  for tickets.