Samuel D. Hunter’s play ‘A Case for the Existence of God’ a small story with a big message

Samuel D. Hunter’s play A Case for the Existence of God has nothing to do with a case for the existence of God. There’s no theological discussions or arguments over faith. Rather, it’s two single dads whose paths cross and lead them to an unusual friendship of shared pain, truth telling and mutual catharsis.

The misleading title is a bit of a shame, since it has the potential to scare off potential audience members who don’t want to hear about religion. They might, however, be open to a moving story about two very different people coming together to confront life’s daily injustices. It’s another thought-provoking drama presented by Denver’s Curious Theatre, with Warren Sherril directing.

Set in modern-day Twin Falls, Idaho, we meet mortgage broker Keith (Cameron Davis) and his client Ryan (Brian Kusic) in Keith’s shitty little office. Scenic Designer Brian Watson leaves most of the theater’s large stage unfilled, with the square office area serving as multiple locations. It’s an inspired choice, leaving the two men cloistered in a confined space that mirrors their lives stuck in this small city.

Other than knowing each other from the daycare where both of their young daughters go, they’re seemingly meeting for the first time. It’s not until later that Keith recalls Ryan from high school when he made fun of his T-shirt. It may seem a small detail, but it’s telling as a bit of male communication that a relevant detail like that is initially dropped. Hunter’s play dives deep into the quirks of guy-comms, starting with the instant walls both men put up as they begin to talk beyond the mortgage business.

Brian Watson’s set design puts the two characters in a confined space for most of the play. | Photo: Susannah McLeod at McLeod9Creative

Manspeak

Hunter’s play is highly attuned to the halting rhythms of insecure men trying to articulate their feelings. Sherrill clearly gets it, leading Davis and Kusic through the wordy script with a sure hand. All the dialogue is tightly packed without any extraneous moments. Everything means something, even if it’s only in the way it’s said, a hint between the lines or a pregnant pause.

Ryan is a blue-collar guy working in a yogurt factory going through a divorce. To keep visitation rights, he’s eager to improve his lot and wants a loan to buy a piece of land formerly owned by his family. He’s unfamiliar with the very concept of loan documents, doesn’t know or care about the difference between a mortgage lender and a mortgage broker (Keith), and projects the common belief among many Americans that intersecting with this world will eventually lead to a royal screwing of some sort. (Hint: He’s not wrong.)

Meanwhile, Keith is battling to hold onto his foster daughter whom he’s hoping to adopt. Being a single, gay man doesn’t put him in the best position, but so long as the mother stays away, he might be OK.

The play depicts a delicate dance between Ryan and Keith as they confront their differences while recognizing they’re all the other one’s got. As they cling to fatherhood, Ryan gets schooled in how little power men have in custody battles while Keith’s happiness is contingent on the whims of his daughter’s birth family and their homophobia. Winning that battle seems as far-fetched as the broke Ryan getting a loan to buy a bunch of land. But hope is at the heart of Existence of God. And as difficult as their journeys are, Hunter still manages to tease a good deal of humor out of their exchanges.

A rare glimpse

Watching this play is to be reminded how rarely genuine male friendships are depicted on stage and screen. Many men have no idea how to form such relationships, so this work is a rare glimpse into something that’s both missing and important. Even if Keith and Ryan don’t get what they want in the end, we learn the friendship lives on. That’s revealed in a final scene that’s as unexpected as it is charming as Davis and Kusic suddenly transform into two other characters.

Existence of God relies on actors able to depict both great subtlety and, at times, fury at the world around them. Sherrill cast well, with Davis and Kusic delivering equally devastating performances as two guys being put through life’s wringer in all the most frustrating and unfair ways.

Hunter’s story about two men in a small office in Idaho confronting problems only they care about manages to stand as a much bigger depiction of today’s America. The lack of control, the grinding heel of fate and the ongoing defeats are all explored within this microcosm. It’s a stellar bit of playwrighting executed quite nicely in this Curious Theatre production.