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Theater Review: Pilgrims at Urbanite

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SARASOTA – Claire Kiechel's Pilgrims is a smartly-written piece of thinking-man's sci-fi that gets its just do courtesy of a capable cast in this perfect-for-summer drama currently playing at Urbanite Theatre in downtown Sarasota.

A soldier and a teenage girl end up quarantined in a small spaceship cabin with only a robot's company on their way to colonize a new planet where earthlings have recently been at war. But in a twist-ridden plot that harkens back to the golden age of sci-fi, all is not as it seems.

Kiechal has crafted an introspective work that would make Isaac Asimov proud, and its regional debut is in very capable hands with Carl Forsman directing.

On a ship to colonize a newly-discovered planet, a soldier and a teenage girl find themselves quarantined in one of the ship’s cabins with only a robot and each other for company. When they’re no longer able to create fantasies to escape their past lives, the two cabin-mates are forced to explore their own traumatic histories in order to connect and survive.
 
Brendan Ragan, Betsy Helmer and Cameron Morton. Photo by Dylan Jon Wade Cox.
 
Urbanite co-founder Brendan Regan is stern and stoic as Soldier, a tortured vet of the alien wars who is not happy at the last minute necessity of bunking up in what was supposed to be a single room. Regan turns in a powerful performance that demonstrates a range a bit outside of his normal wheelhouse.

New York-based actress Betsy Helmer is absolutely delightful as the pouty little sexpot he's forced to share the small confinement with, and Cameron Morton gets most of the laughs with her endearing portrayal of the robot stewardess.
 
Brendan Ragan and Betsy Helmer. Photo by Dylan Jon Wade Cox.
 
The ability of Urbanite's talented production team to craft unthinkably inventive sets in Urbanite's small, black box space, is much appreciated by Urbanite regulars, but this futuristic set may be their finest work yet.

Pilgrims is a play that takes a deep, hard look into the human experience, asking questions through the lens of a very entertaining and accessible story. It runs through September 10. Visit the Urbanite website for more information.
 
Betsy Helmer and Brendan Ragan. Photo by Dylan Jon Wade Cox.
 
 

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