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I never did do well in church.
But Olivias ability to play the brave, supportive spouse is cracking.
The sky rumbles and flashes.
God, she pleads, I keep hearing these bombs.
When will it stop?
Theyve built and scored a space that physicalizes Olivias trouble in mind.
Where they exist at all, their walls are permeable, and the pain seeps in.
It seems, Charles shivers, like death is always greeting a colored person at their front door.
In the interim, Love lets loose with the domestic melodrama.
My whole world is you.
My life is you.
I dont even know who I am … Olivias terror at her lost sense of self is only multiplied by the fact that shes carrying a child.
Our little miracle, Charles calls it, but his wifes eyes are sharp with panic.
This world aint no place for a colored child to call home, she says to him.
And with God shes even more blunt.
Dear God, she begins another letter, I dont want this baby.
I never did … Youre taking this thing back.
Its like a very rich meal, eventually dulling the very senses it seeks to sharpen and satisfy.
The actors, and especially Wise, are what keep us invested.
Davis skillfully finds the balance between Charless charisma and his weakness.
Its an electrically charged performance, the kind that you imagine an actor passing out after.
Its the magnetic Wise who elevatesFirefliesout of soap-opera territory.
Firefliesis at the Atlantic Theater Company through November 11.
