From your mouth to ‘God’s Ear’

"God's Ear," written by Jenny Schwartz, explores the real and surreal relationships within a family trying to cope after the death of their son.

During what was supposed to be a peaceful vacation tragedy struck and left the family forever disconnected. The play presents the family's inner and outer struggles to cope with the loss and continue their lives.

This Friday night, Glacity Theatre Collective's production of "God's Ear" will open at the Valentine Theatre's Studio A on Adams Street.

 "‘God's Ear' is, in essence, a comedy about grieving. The poetic, witty language embodies a joy of life, despite its painful topic," said Director Irene Alby. "It is a very contemporary play."

Swirling through scenes without really knowing what is real and what is a dream enables the audience to have a different perception on life. 

 "Schwartz uses the overload of information and our dependence on technology to demonstrate our increasing isolation," Alby said. "Despite these characters' tragedy, they hide behind information and cell phones in order to avoid having to truly connect to themselves and each other."

The performance features Aggie Alt and Qarie Marshall as the husband and wife, Mel and Ted who are the parents of Lanie, played by Angelica Alby-Gabara.

Through their struggles, other characters such as a seductress, the Tooth Fairy and G.I. Joe positively and negatively influence the family.

The rest of the cast includes UT alumni Phillip Taylor, Nikki Soldner and Ernest Green as well as theatre instructor Dave DeChristopher.

"The talented actors have managed to embody their characters while still working with stylized disciplined movement that gives the play its dreamlike feel," Alby said.

Holly Monsos, associate dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts and executive director for Glacity, designed the costumes and James Hill, chair of the theatre department, designed the set.

 "Good theatre offers something you cannot get from TV, film or the internet and that is the live exchange of energy and raw emotion that audience and actor undergo together during the journey of the play," Alby said. "I say good theatre because there is a lot of boring, bad theatre that takes no risks and offers little. This play is very moving, but it is also very funny. In its exploration of a tragedy, it is a celebration of life.  I think audiences will have the opportunity to go from extreme sadness to extreme laughter in this play and that process will be cathartic and revitalizing."

The show will run this weekend as well as the next. Tickets for God's Ear are available on the Valentine Theatre's website as well as at the door 30 minutes prior to performance.

The show begins at 8:00 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and the doors open at 7:30 p.m. At the door, tickets are $22, and $5 student rush tickets will be offered five minutes before the show starts.

For the evening shows, there will be a cash bar for pre-show, intermission and post-show.

There is also a pay-what-you-can Sunday matinee starting at 2:00p.m. with doors opening at 1:30 p.m.