Quick disclosure--the cast, playwright and director of Movin' On Up are all friends of mine. Take that for whatever it is worth.
My favorite acting teacher once gave me words to live by. "Theatre" he said "is revolutionary in nature. It changes you. You are no longer the same person you were before seeing a play." I am of course paraphrasing since he said this in the 1980s. But this play makes a fine example of exactly his point. Just in terms of a weird, dreamlike situation--three strangers meeting for reasons never made totally clear in a graveyard--we the audience listen in on a fascinating, perplexing and unresolved conversation. I never really learned who these people are, although given the locale one theory (they are all dead) sprang to mind. Two men and a woman, just talking, much of what they discuss matters existential yet not academic at all. Indeed, we end up laughing quite a bit. More, we remain involved because cast, director and writer between them create a mystery wrapped around a debate taking place at moments prior to some kinds of decision. Honestly, this proves a tour-de-force, albeit probably frustrating beyond words for the impatient, i.e. those who will demand ANSWERS and don't want to take the time to ponder, to let the conversation sink into their souls and see what develops. Like so much really fine theatre, this play refuses to tell you what to think, who you should be rooting for, or takes away any choice your part. Yet without ever learning as much as I longed to, never once was I bored or less than at least a little enthralled (as well as just entertained by these three people trying to make sense of their situation).
Movin On Up was part of the 2018 Hollywood Fringe Festival and has currently closed but I have hopes of it being mounted once more.
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