Melancholia

Last night I took in the world premiere play, Melancholia. Melancholia is loosely based on a true story of a young Iraq vet who kills two innocent men and then returns home haunted by the war. Without any escape from the horrors he has seen, he commits suicide. Produced by the Latino Theater Company Laboratory, the show is clearly a brainchild of a well oiled machine. The troop wrote and constructed the piece collaboratively and their familiarity with one another and the work only makes the viewing experience that much greater. Spanning from drunken parties on the eve of shipping off, to creepy VA Hospitals, to the heat of battle, to singing and dancing numbers; the play shows great variety and poise. But perhaps the show's greatest strength lies in it's talented young ensemble cast. The main character is played by several different talented actors throughout the character's life. And the character's Tar and Skittles are played as two lost ghosts from a Shakespearian Nightmare. Good stuff all around.