‘well, I’ll let you go’ – Revealed in Mourning

By Alix Cohen

The night before her wedding, Maggie (Quincy Tyler Berstine) almost opted out.Twenty-five years later when her husband dies, she wonders not only whether she loved him, but also who he was. Narrator Michael Chernus describes the house and situation, weaving through the story like an elusive ghost.

Her community believes Marv to have been a pillar in life and a hero in death. Most, indebted to him, know more than they say. A succession of family and friends deliver bereavement paraphernalia- endless flowers and a frig full of covered casseroles. Maggie is patient and kind- if a little out of it. The widow would just as soon be left alone. She’s not even sure she wants a formal ceremony.

Marv’s cousin Wally (Will Dagger- aptly unnerving) has long been accepted as a responsibility. Mentally challenged, he ostensibly turns up in condolence, but actually to rant about why he quit his job and to get a square meal. Wally is anxious to make sure support will continue. “People have not liked me my whole life.”

Joan (a wonderfully fussy and oblivious Constance Shulman) arrives from the local funeral parlor toting a bouquet of helium balloons (flowers die too quickly) and an easel (for a large photo of the deceased.) “Did nobody reach out?!” She pitches services offered. We discover why this is her calling before Maggie shows her the door.

As gestures of compassion emerge awkward, insufficient, or complicated, intermittent black comedy keeps empathetic grief from overtaking audience.

Sister-in-law Julie (Amelia Workman) enters with more flowers. In one of her rare eruptions, Maggie points out Julie’s three days late, avoiding the worst time. Conversation discloses that Marv’s act of heroism- protecting a pregnant girl from an anti-abortionist, took place at the local college where he had no business and suspiciously spent an inordinate amount of time.

Julie’s husband Jeff (a credible Danny McCarthy) volunteers to do anything Maggie needs. She momentarily wonders whether she married the wrong brother. He tells her how Marv died.”But why was he there on campus?” she presses. Additionally, was Marv really with Jeff at the club every night?

Well-meaning, somewhat overbearing, Roberta (a solid Emily Davis), childhood friend and mother of the young woman Marv saved, represents the community. At last, after a series of hang-up calls, Angela, the girl herself shows up. In a terrific turn, Cricket Brown manifests palpably anxious discomfort. By this time, Maggie thinks she understands, but when Angela unwittingly fills in the blanks, it turns out she’s wrong. Clarity arrives late.

A last, in an imaginatively directed scene, Maggie literally dresses Marv (Michael Chernus) for the funeral. We then regress aria da capo to the couple’s first moving into the house. (Robert Icke’s Oedipus used this trope.) As Marv worriedly prattles on about its virtues, Maggie walks the periphery without expression.

All the actors are superb, Quincy Tyler Bernstiine’s performance inspired.The artist conveys exhaustion and confusion with leaden body language, spacey responses, and restraint. Bursts of emotion feel wrenchingly real.

With the precision of as surgeon, playwright Bubba Weiler slowly unpeels the truth. A riveting piece.

Director Jack Serio uses the vast space well. Characters are defined, each with his/her own personalities.

Frank J. Oliva’s uber spare set for what turns out to be a kitchen sink drama, makes one wonder whether the scenario is a fantasy or theater of the absurd. The narrator describes each item of furniture we don’t see until a final reveal. I found it too big and empty for the intimate story. A stripping away of everything but death?
Avery Reed’s Costumes are spot on.

Photos by Emilio Madrid
Opening: Quincy Tyler Berstine (Maggie) & Michael Chernus (Marv)

well, I’ll let you go– by Bubba Weiler
Directed by Jack Serio
Through June 20, 2026
Studio/Seaview 305 W 43rd St,