The 2003 Fringe Review Rag #2

The Book of Liz
Repertory Actors Theatre
THEATRE #1 - THE CHAC

"This play was certainly inspired by today's modern world where everyone is both 'special' and an 'outsider.' In Amy and David Sedaris’ oddball world, everyone has something unique to offer, even someone as unlikely as Sister Elizabeth Donderstock, a sweaty and under-appreciated cheeseball maker in the Quaker-like town of Squeamish, who sets off to try her luck in the outside world. Over the course of the play she meets various self-absorbed characters, all convinced they are the stars of their own drama or comedy. They moan about the problems they have or how they are better than the next guy; each blind to the good that surrounds them or the bad that they themselves do. This is a cute but simplistic adult allegory in which every character learns at least one banal lesson through Sister Elizabeth's small adventure, though barely a dent is ever made in anyone's rubbery caricature. One wonders if this play's world, which begins as only slightly off-kilter, is ever truly restored to spinning on track." -Wednesday Knudsen