The Exit Interview

Cheryl William and Dan Hodge

InterAct Theatre Company is presenting The Exit Interview on the Main Stage of The Adrienne, 2030 Sansom Street, through November 11. It has been written by Williams Missouri Downs and is directed Seth Rozin.  The night I saw the performance, an announcement was made to the eagerly awaiting theatre goers in the lobby that the curtain would be delayed by 30 minutes as it had just been discovered that a laptop had been stolen which held all of the actors’ cues and work had to be done to reconstruct them.  Offers were made to give rain checks, but everyone waited and believe me, it was worth the wait. The playwright treats the bold question, “do things really happen for a reason?”  in a cheeky manner, much to the audience’s delight.  Dick Fig, an agnostic college professor who has just lost his job, is forced to endure a parting conference with a devout Christian examiner.   While Fig alludes to the virtues of Berthold Brecht in trying to convince his examiner that God does not exist, William Missouri Downs, with his tongue in his cheek, offers up all the elements of an epic Brechtian play. While the exit interview is being conducted to the tune of nearby gunshots. there are actors who speak directly to the audience; explanatory placards; stage directions spoken aloud; songs used to interrupt the action and several small vignettes within a loosely held plot. Commercial plugs for the second act are the height of the ridiculous This is irreverent comedy at its best. For more information or tickets call 215-568-8079 or visit online at www.interacttheatre.org.