By John Van de Ven

Destroying David is easily one of my favorite BAT show to date. This show is original, and comes from a place of love. In a way it is a love letter to the statue of David. Destroying David brings up questions about grief, the flaws in things, and the purpose of art. This show is one of BAT’s best, so make sure to catch it before this run of it ends.

How do we deal with our grief? Do we lash out and burn the world so it feels as we do? Or, more importantly, what should we do with it? These are questions that playwright Jason Odell Williams tries to answer in Destroying David.

Destroying David is an hour and a half semi-monologue performed by Sharif Ali (who plays “You”), with flashbacks to include appearances from Adrian Cerrato (playing two roles, David, the deceased husband of “You” and Michelangelo) and Carrie Schnelker (who plays the voice of David’s hospice nurse). Ali plays an unnamed art restorer known simply as “You”, who is dealing with the pain of losing their husband David. 

“You” begins his story discussing the nature of two subjects, flaws and art. He tells us that art is important and that it challenges and changes them, art is a transformative force. “You” goes on to say that on the other hand, a flaw challenges and changes the world in a more destructive way. 

Ali’s “You” makes the case that all it takes is one small flaw to topple anything, even giants made of stone and marble. Take one of Michelangelo’s most famous works for example, the beloved statue of David. Though the statue appears flawless to the casual passerby, a small flaw, a hairline crack in his ankle threatens the stability of David’s rock solid foundation.

As “You” goes through the history of the statue, we’re enlightened that the flaw existed since the beginning on the statue's life, a weakness in the stone right where David’s ankle is. The original artist got fired and Michelangelo was hired to replace him, a move that changed the world.

Although “You” works for the organization that cleans and restores David, he explains that the Italian government still has not stepped in to take measures that would ensure the David would be fixed, and is stuck in some bureaucratic nightmare over what should be done. “You” recalls the flaw in his own David, a rare and aggressive tumor in his heart that was inoperable by the time they found it. The only option was to keep David comfortable until this flaw toppled him.

Enraged by the ineffectiveness of the Italian government and grieving their own personal loss, “You” reasons that he must destroy the statue of David. “You” must make the world feel what he feels, the loss of something beloved.

Does “You” go through with it, does he destroy a piece of art that is and was beloved throughout the ages, or is there some other method to their madness? If you want the answer to these questions, you only have two more opportunities to catch BAT Theatre’s rendition of Jason Odell Williams’ Destroying David.

Maggie Larrick and Rochelle Flynn do an excellent job directing this awesome and talented cast. Sharif Ali plays the unnamed art restorer “You”, with supporting cast Adrian Cerrato playing Michelangelo and David, and Carrie Schnelker as David’s hospice nurse. Ali’s performance is real and grounded, makes the irony of an art restorer who wants to destroy a historic piece of art believable. 

Destroying David kicks off another season of BAT Theatre’s fantastic shows. This is another show that was written with zoom in mind, so if you haven’t gotten to see a zoom show yet, this one represents one of the best the format has to offer, so make sure not to miss it.

Destroying David is sponsored by 4Culture through the King County Lodging Tax and the City of Burien, and supported by ticket sales. Two shows remain, Saturday, March 5th at 8 pm and Sunday, March 6th at 2 pm.  Tickets can be found here, on a pay-as-you-will basis: https://v6.click4tix.com/events.php?domain=BAT

The author, Jason Odell Williams, will be on hand for the talkback after the Sunday, March 6, performance. 

The BAT Theatre has been performing shows in the Puget Sound area for over 40 years, and is a non-profit 501(c)(3) entity that relies heavily on ticket revenue, donations and volunteer help.