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'God of Obsidian' frustrating in the best way

By Tiffany Hudson "@tiffanylynn_:  @hungerf9 Wow wow wow wow wow wow wow. SO many feelings after God of Obsidian." This is the tweet I sent from my table at Coffee Emporium, minutes after leaving Gabriel’s…

By Tiffany Hudson

“@tiffanylynn_:  @hungerf9 Wow wow wow wow wow wow wow. SO many feelings after God of Obsidian.”

This is the tweet I sent from my table at Coffee Emporium, minutes after leaving Gabriel’s Corner, where I sat feeling all the feelings after seeing ‘God of Obsidian’, one of this year’s Cincinnati Fringe Festival offerings. 

We’ve all been in in a relationship where we’ve felt like we couldn’t leave and we’ve all been in a relationship we couldn’t quite let someone go. All of this plays out in ‘God of Obsidian’ on the minimal set of only a white ottoman, red blanket, and the rope handrail of an imaginary rickety bridge (or prison gate if we’re really using our collective imagination, as that’s what if feels like for 56 of the 60 minutes of the play). Seeking companionship, Alice crosses the decrepit bridge to the home of the man pursuing her, the monster she falls in love with. And while this is a dark fairy tale, he’s no conventional fairy tale monster. Rather, Nathan is a normal old guy with a normal old job, living in a normal old house… albeit strange, because there’s a river and woods secluding the house from the rest of the normal old world.

Photo provided by Cincinnati Fringe Festival

While I can tell you this play was ingenious, I can’t say it wasn’t absolutely infuriating. You know those people in the audience that can’t close their mouth? They grumble, they moan, they throw their hands up in the air? There were a few of those people in this audience… and instead of finding this annoying, I was right there with them. I wanted to stand up and scream.

Photo provided by Cincinnati Fringe Festival

The conversations are circular, the logic convoluted, the rhetoric filled with lies. And while this is very much the story of two characters in a relationship, you can’t help but recognize the influence of the current political climate. Playwright Mac Rogers (also playing the role of Nathan) is still grappling with his post-election feelings, but near the close of the play is the line: “Maybe the best stories aren’t the good ones, maybe they’re the ones happening now.”

This play is happening now and I suggest you check it out while you still have the chance. The final performance is tonight (Monday, June 5) at 07:45 pm, though I’m holding my breath for an encore performance Sunday.

Tiffany Hudson is a regular at Coffee Emporium, the Marketing Specialist at ArtsWave, and chalkboard artist at the local watering hole, The Drinkery. Want to talk about how much you love art and/or Cincinnati? Drop her a line at tiffany.hudson@theartswave.org.