Kayodè Soyemi and Steven Lee Johnson Photo by Andrew Greto

Hunter has set the play in his native Idaho, as Keith (Kayodè Soyemi) and Ryan (Steven Lee Johnson) face one another in a tiny office nook or corner. Ryan hopes to buy a bit of land, thinking this might recharge him. He believes his grandparents once owned the parcel. Divorced a short time back, he hopes to have Krista, his young daughter, with him. He does not know if he will gain custody of the child. Otherwise, Ryan is down on his luck and fortune since he works at a nondescript yogurt factory of sorts and has poor credit.

Keith is a mortgage broker and clearly explains to Ryan that he is not a lender. He has been a foster father to Willa and hopes to adopt her. Keith is smart and articulate but, in his own way, as desperate as Ryan. These men were in school together a number of years back, and now their little daughters, under two, are in the same daycare. Ryan is white and straight while Keith is Black and gay. For quite a long time, they parry. Ryan is more obviously distraught but Keith becomes agitated as well. They are both single men who try, somehow, to rejuvenate, to enrich their lives.

Keith tries to give Ryan fiscal options but Ryan is slow on the uptake when it comes to understanding the specifics. The characters sit and talk, sit and talk while tension escalates and then recedes. At one point, they do some drinking. Ryan wonders whether "there's good left in the world." That is most apropos: Keith, on the surface, looks smoother while Ryan, wearing jeans, wears his emotions upon him more vividly. Playwright Hunter eventually provides a cathartic moment for Keith. The question, however, is whether or not Keith's release of pent-up feelings will lead to a more positive situation.

Thematically, the play focuses on control. Ryan sits in his chair forlornly but, in a flash, reveals intent, to keep Krista, through Hunter's words and his own facial expression. For now, Ryan is down but not absolutely out. Keith does have a job but it becomes obvious that he could lose all of his joy, the child called Willa, in an instant. Should adoption fail, Keith will crash. Bruce Springsteen entitled a song "Land of Hopes and Dreams." Both Ryan and Keith need circumstances to resolve favorably in order to realize hopes and dreams.

Samuel D. Hunter (who wrote the play The Whale and the screenplay for the award-winning film of the same name) provides quick, catchy dialogue. For the longest while, Keith and Ryan remain seated. Director Daniel Elihu Kramer does have the opportunity to apply his skills to include movement during final scenes. The director has wisely coached the two actors to keep pushing the dialogue. Snappy pacing carries the story forward.

Both of the actors hold an MFA from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale. Kayodè Soyemi has a number of regional theatre credits and a background in producing, too. Steven Lee Johnson was in the Broadway cast of To Kill a Mockingbird and also has appeared on regional stages. He is cast as Charlie when Stereophonic begins its first national tour journey this fall.

This intriguing production reaches into the souls of two men but manages to avoid melodrama. It is by no means a stretch to see these individuals as friends. The play, through strong performances, pulls in theatregoers from the get-go. Hunter has written words for anguished yet compassionate men who are clinging to even a ray of hope.

A Case for the Existence of God runs through August 3, 2025, at Chester Theatre Company, 15 Middlefield Rd., Chester MA. For tickets and information, please call 413-354-7771 or visit chestertheatre.org.