“In Pieces” explores the trials and tribulations of romance and relationships to ask if it’s worth pursuing.
Performed in Central Connecticut State University’s Black Box Theatre in Maloney Hall, this sung-through musical follows eight people in the New York City area as they navigate the tumultuous nature of their relationships over the years. Hunter (Anthony Cosme), Austin (Jon Carlos Lopez), Charlie (Ethan Bazinet), River (Erin Moderacki), Grey (Derick Lopez), Sam (Kitty Fernandez), Alex (Nylajshia Liebler), and Jael (Sanaya Echevarria) are living out complex lives, which the audience is shown snapshots of when they get songs.
The story is told through a series of vignettes, showing each character in three different phases of their lives and how they are doing romantically at the time. It feels a bit reminiscent of the movie “Love, Actually” with all the different character stories and how they are all themed around love.
It is a bit incohesive, though. There really isn’t much to connect most of the characters and their stories outside of the idea that they all are having some type of issue around romantic love. That connection feels a bit tenuous, and it is somewhat jarring when the show switches characters. Only a few characters’ stories involve each other: Hunter and Sam, and Charlie and Grey.
Despite this incoherence, the story was intriguing to watch as characters start in a state of happiness and excitement of the idea of being in a relationship, transition to painful heartbreak as their love life has fallen apart, and end in trying to find peace and acceptance in the new status quo. Some characters have it easier than others, but they all struggle with how their relationship should be and what they want from it in a way that feels very authentic to real life. Relationships are hard and painful when they fall apart.
The story does end on a hopeful note of how they must keep trying no matter what comes, but it is a bit tempered by the idea of whether or not people can “only love in pieces,” expressing the idea that relationships are just one part of someone’s life and there’s so much more to them than that. Love can break quite easily, but you don’t have to define your capacity to love someone around one bad relationship.
The cast was very enjoyable to watch. Echevarria, Lopez, and Lopez were standout performers, giving Jael, Austin, and Grey very compelling performances in every number they were in. The ensemble cast also did very good. Ensembles aren’t typically given as much attention by the audience considering they are in the background in most theater shows, but given all the roles they had to play in each song, Caitlyn Dzialo Gloria Udomoh, Ethan Kim, and Brian Lybeck performed wonderfully.
In some ways, “In Pieces” demonstrates how hard romantic relationships can be. There is a romanticized idea of them that people can form when they are seeking one out or are just starting one. But this is ultimately a façade and it can really sting when that façade crumbles and relationship crumbles along with it. There still is meaning to the relationship, in that it will teach you something about you and what you want from life. It just will be up to you to decide what you want to do moving forward after the relationship.
Black Box Theatre’s next performance will be “Antigone” from Oct. 8-11.
