Dezart Performs continues exploring Samuel D. Hunter with 'A Case for the Existence of God'

A philosopher once posited that “God is everywhere: sometimes you can even find him in church.” In playwright Samuel D. Hunter’s “must-see heartbreaker of a play” (The New York Times), "A Case for the Existence of God," divine compassion is found in a work-a-day back office in Idaho near the Canadian border where two broken men “find what connects us all and Holiness in humanity” (The Observer).

The 2022 Drama Critics’ Circle Award Winner for Best Play is the third production in Dezart Performs’ landmark 16th Season, running March 1-10 at the Pearl McManus Theater. The play runs 90 minutes without intermission. Playwright Samuel D. Hunter is scheduled to attend the opening night performance and will hold a “talk back” following the first Saturday evening performance on March 2.

“Samuel D. Hunter is very much a playwright for this moment in our world,” said Dezart Performs Founding Artistic Director Michael Shaw, who directed Hunter’s "A Bright New Boise" last season and is directing this year’s production by Hunter.

Hunter’s 2022 film, "The Whale," garnered an Academy Award for actor Brendan Fraser. “In language both sparse but eloquent, he manages to convey the full range of human emotions, good and bad, from two people doing nothing but sitting and talking in a small room," Shaw said. "It’s like a literary miracle, what such passion in a confined space can produce.”

"A Case for the Existence of God" unfolds in a cubicle where two seated people unexpectedly choose to bring one another into their fragile worlds. Keith (Dennis Renard), a mortgage broker, and Ryan (Jacob Alden Roa), a yogurt plant worker seeking to buy a plot of land that belonged to his familymany decades ago, realize they share a "specific kind of sadness." At this desk in the middle of America, loan talk opens up into a discussion about the chokehold of financial insecurity and a bond over the precariousness of parenthood. With humor, empathy and wrenching honesty, Hunter commingles two lives and deftly bridges disparate experiences of marginality.

As Keith sums up in one of the play’s most simple, yet wrenching moments: “Things happen every day that aren’t right.”

Renard was the winner of last year's Desert Theatre League Award for his performance in "Choir Boy" and Roa was a nominee for his performance in "The Garbologists."

Following "A Case for the Existence of God" in Dezart Performs' season is playwright Michael McKeever’s "Mr. Parker," in which an intergenerational relationship leads to a complex web of family soul searching. This “Gay to December” romance finds a widower trying to come to terms with the loss of his longtime spouse while balancing a new potential love interest against the disapproving glares of his overpowering sister-in-law. Randy Brenner, returning to direct "Mr. Parker," was last season’s director of Dezart Performs' "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Gynecologic Unit."

Rex Reed describes "Mr. Parker" as “a very intelligent, absorbing look at contemporary relationships and the conflicts that keep us all from aging with joy and peace of mind. This play is a real discovery.”

''Mr. Park' is a mirror to the complexities and challenges of adapting to life's unexpected turns," Shaw said. "This is a story that resonates with anyone who has faced the need to reinvent themselves at a crossroads in life. It’s a journey of self-discovery and reflection on love, loss, and identity in contemporary America."

At 54 years old, main character Terry Parker (David Pevsner) finds himself at that aforementioned crossroads in his life. After the death of his partner of 30 years, he finds himself suddenly single and unable to adjust to a world that has moved on without him, attempting to “step gingerly out of grief’s stasis and into the unknown” (New York Times.) After a night of heavy drinking, he wakes up with a 28-year-old bartender-slash-Uber-driver, Justin (Nick Giedris). These two very different people begin a tentative relationship, looked at askance by Terry’s formidable former sister-in-law, Cassie (Marsha Mercant). What starts out as a one-night stand becomes a journey of self-discovery for a man trying to let go of the past and move forward, while dealing with the pressures of being middle aged, gay and alone in the ever-changing landscape of today’s America.

The result is “a stunning work by an accomplished playwright; an amusing, heartfelt and emotionally astute look at love, loss and the struggles of facing an uncertain future” (OnStage Blog).

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit theatre company, Dezart Performs' mission is to provide an artistic home for bold and cutting–edge plays, creating an atmosphere of artistic growth for actors, writers and directors who uniquely contribute to the diverse theatrical environment in the Coachella Valley.

In 2023, Dezart Performs announced plans for a new space to be called the Dezart Playhouse, located in Cathedral City. Based on the current plan, the Playhouse will be ready for the 2025-26 season. The campaign has been in the silent phase for over a year, with the goal to raise $2,200,000 to convert the former retail space into a state-of-the-art Equity Theater.

David Perry serves as the PR director for Dezart Performs.

Are you a nonprofit theater professional in the Coachella Valley looking to tell the story of an upcoming production? Or another arts professional with an event you'd like to share with readers? Email Features Editor Niki Kottmann at niki.kottmann@desertsun.com to submit an Open Call column.

If you go

What: Dezart Performs presents "A Case for the Existence of God" and "Mr. Parker"

When: 7:30 p.m. Fridays; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays and 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays March 1-10 for "A Case for the Existenve of God" and same times April 12-21 for "Mr. Parker"

Where: Pearl McManus Theater (at the historic Palm Springs Woman’s Club), 314 S. Cahuilla Road, Palm Springs

Cost: $48 – $55

More info: dezartperforms.org

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Dezart Performs continues season with 'A Case for the Existence of God'