I think that the words engaging and compelling are starting to get a little overworked in theater criticism and I have begun making an effort to avoid using them. But I am about to fail. Director Elyse Edelman has crafted a compelling and engaging performance at Renaissance Theaterworks from Playwright Hansol Jung’s engaging and compelling script for Cardboard Piano. So in other words, this presentation is remarkable.
Part of the description for the play is, A War Torn Love Story, but as is often the case, that’s only the half of it. But let’s start there. The entire play takes place in a Christian mission church in rural Uganda and for the first act, the day is January 1, 2000. Adiel, a young Ugandan woman, is decorating the church and is in a very excited state. She is waiting for Chris, the daughter of the American missionaries who built the church. Chris arrives and surprises Adiel and scares her just a bit. Tyler Cruz is the energetic and excited Adiel. She is excited because she and Chris are going to get married today. Chris is played by Rebecca Kent, also excited but maybe just a little bit devious. Because her Christian parents are opposed to the marriage she has given them sleeping pills to keep them out of the way. So the plan is to marry Adiel in their own private little ceremony which Adiel plans to tape record to serve as the witnessing of the rite. But Adiel is appalled at Chris’ actions and Cruz clearly exhibits that bit of uncertainty but out of love decides to continue with the plan. And they wed with all of the joy and fervor of any young couple in love. Kent presents a determined Chris who has it all worked out and who is willing and able to pivot on the fly.
Everything is going to plan until Pika bursts into the church brandishing a gun and threatening the young women. Ethan Hightire presents a hyper-active, desperate, and fearful 13 year old boy who is trying to escape the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army. And the women are equally fearful until he passes out from loss of blood from the partial loss of his left ear. He is disarmed and tied up but the drama hardly ends here. And this maybe a spoiler alert but it is critical to what comes next. While Adiel returns home to pack, Chris gains his confidence and calms Pika and tells him the story of the Cardboard Piano. And then Dimonte Henning, as a soldier seeking Pika to return him to the LRA, bursts into the church. Just as Henning is blustering and shouting with all of his macho intimidation and waving his machete around, Adiel returns. He threatens her and she plays coy but he finds the handgun she has kept for protection and all hell breaks lose. Pika comes out of hiding to the rescue and overcomes the soldier. And as Adiel and Chris embrace and kiss in relief, Pika denounces them as sinners and shoots and kills Adiel.
And then 14 years later, a repaired and revitalized church is run by an Ugandan pastor and his wife. Dimonte Henning returns here as the pastor Paul. And he is preparing a fiery sermon for this coming Sunday service when he wife Ruth appears. Ruth is the second role in the play for Tyler Cruz who gives us a confident, loving. and compassionate woman. It’s their second anniversary and they are both looking forward to a bit of celebration. Another clear and sweet love story. And then Chris returns. She wants to bury part of her father’s ashes here in the church yard that he built. Ruth is cool and seems to understand but Paul becomes agitated and leaves. And Ruth recounts the Cardboard Piano story to Chris, with a few minor tweaks and Paul’s alias falls away and we see the adult Pika. And I won’t ruin the rest of the story…well except…Hightire makes a re-appearance as a young man who is seeking solace and blessing from the pastor…but being a gay man finds little support in the church. And that too opens up other parts of the story and history of this little church and these little players.
Elyse Edelman is a new force to be reckoned with as a director. She is continuing to develop a dramatic vision and has an innate feel for what works on stage and how actors work together. I guess this is not surprising given her depth as an actress. And Dimonte Henning too is certainly becoming a sought after and very well liked actor for the variety of roles he’s taken on and the emotion and energy he’s able to share with his audience.
And there are some underlying themes that Jung presents: what are the effects of colonialism, how does faith unite and alienate us, and how does love work when homosexuality is forbidden.
Cardboard Piano runs at Renaissance Theaterworks, 255 S Water St, Milwaukee from now until February 1, 2026. Ticket information here.
The play runs about an hour and 55 minutes including a 15 minute intermission.
Suggested for Ages 13+
Adult Themes, Language, Topics of War, and there is theatrical gunfire.
Extra Credit Reading: Playbill and Audience Guide.
