What is wrong with the world?  That is, essentially, the question asked by Priscilla Dreams the Answer, the lovely play by Walt McGough and Fresh Ink Theatre Company’s first production. I have been lucky enough to be cast in said play and I get to struggle with this question, along with the rest of the cast, night after night.

At the center of every good play is an essential question. Will Hamlet avenge his father’s death? Can George and Martha bury their mutual resentment and find happiness? Can the Weston family take care of each other and be at peace? In the case of Priscilla the question is much more universal. It’s the essential question of humanity. 

Priscilla is sort of a sad loner, dealing with major personal trauma. Two aliens come to her apartment from outer space (stay with me) because they need Priscilla’s help. The aliens, in order to save the world, need Priscilla to help them answer life’s big question. Why do bad things happen to good people? What’s the point of it all? Are we all truly alone, sentenced to trudge hopelessly through this vale of tears until we reach the ultimate destination: death?

The question of this play is the great question of existence. Why are we here? And the answer, of course, is… who knows? We would all do best to keep in mind that death is imminent, and we might as well keep going. We might as well make the best of it! Which is why some of us choose to spend most nights of this holiday season in cold classrooms running around, pretending to be aliens, with duct tape balls bouncing on our heads. And that’s why Priscilla Dreams the Answer is worth seeing: because as long as we’re all destined to ask the universe the big questions, at least let’s have some fun doing it. We’re all going to die anyway!

Emily, actress in Priscilla Dreams the Answer