★★★

Telling Stars Theatre’s Great Felt Greatness invites audiences to embrace the unraveling of our universe as we know it, with out-of-this-world mythology and dynamic movement work. This partly devised piece, penned by Eden Ulrik and co-directed with Hannah Smith, is the tale of young Creo struggling to build a solar system that works. Each of his already-created planets has failed to live up to their originally conceived purpose, and Earth is dying.

The stage is set with childish pop-up tents and tunnels, covered with shimmering fabric that reflects the lights above. This set lends itself perfectly to the dances the actors perform around it, allowing them to incorporate the tunnels and tents into costumes seamlessly; a creative and resourceful spin that turns unrefined materials into Martian bodies and hydrogen-cloaked suns. I would be remiss not to mention the dynamicity of the actors' movement work, as well as their stunning costumes by Asefeh Katoozian and Litta Xandr. The choral work seems effortless when blended with Abbey Kruse’s incredible sound design. 

Where this work unfortunately loses its footing is in the self-declared “overly complex fiction” that it spins. Despite efforts by the actors, including standouts Arina Anas and Kai Osborne, the abstract nature of the story failed to communicate the themes at their full potential. The allegory for neurodiversity and the troubles of being “too slow” were clear, but in weaving this metaphor, powerful character moments were obscured. At the climax of the piece, when our Sun is swallowed in a black hole, the choral work and movement of the actors wrapping Smith in a flowing maroon swaddle was sincerely beautiful and should have been as emotionally charged for the audience as it was for the actors. The story had been so difficult to follow that this imagery and its impact were lost on me.

The parts where the group moves and speaks together are the strongest in the piece, and maybe that’s the great lesson in Great Felt Greatness: that our combined strengths can bring us to a cohesive whole. Creo is the Creator of the galaxy, but it only works when his planets all work together. I would love to see how this play matures over time, because the themes and ensemble work are strong and exciting, if currently a little hard to digest.

You can enjoy a trip to space at the Al Green Theatre until July 14th.