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Photo by Larry Cobra ©2025  Selene Beretta & William Apps in Amerissiah.

The Amoralists, probably the most notable upstart theater group in downtown NYC since Les Freres Corbusier, has already drawn a line in the proverbial sand and allowed people to fall on either side of it. Some people find their work bold and uncompromising with its ratcheted-up neo-dramas a healthy throwback to shows where dramatic conflict took center stage. Some find them puerile and filled with self-satisfied brio, not unlike a band of punk kids who shout in your face because they can. Admittedly, I was a toe into the latter train of thought with their last opus, the sharply written but overlong and over-emphatic Happy in the Poorhouse. To me, the style overtook the substance, and despite their wonderful troupe's efforts, it became wearying versus exciting. It was hard to imagine any room for a narrative to breathe within their rigid confines, and one wondered if that same style could ever evolve into something more substantive.

The happy answer is yes, as evidenced by their latest re-mounting-nearly all of their plays, by resident director/writer Derek Ahonen, have been staged before elsewhere. Amerissiah falls in line with The Amoralists' trademark family dysfunction beachhead, and they are as ribald and wild as ever, featuring the company's signatures: shouting matches, broad character acting, the carefully selected working-class home environs, the unruly mix of the profound and the profane. Only this time, Ahonen and his cast seem to have their sights set on something more than a lark, and the results stick in a way that seems to have let the company be born anew.

Barry Ricewater (Matthew Pilieci) is dying of bone cancer and refuses treatment, and also believes himself to be the human conduit of God, the “Amerissiah” of the title. He makes house with a much-older hippie lady (Aysha Quinn) who administers marijuana to ease his suffering, much to the chagrin of his siblings Holly (Sarah Lemp), a brittle lawyer, and Ricky (William Apps), a former junkie who has brought along his new love Loni (Selene Beretta), a former addict with social anxiety disorder. Their father (George Walsh) is a blowhard-a so-called “best person alive”-who has the family mixed up in a court case involving the family car business that could take them all down, unless Bernie the Attorney (James Kautz) can ease the damage. Then a mysterious laundress from Missouri (Jennifer Fouche) and her rapper-wannabe husband (Nick Lawson) drop in on everyone, the former becoming a medium to Barry's literal God complex. Or is it one at all“

Photo by Larry Cobra ©2025  Selene Beretta, James Kautz, Sarah Lemp, George Walsh, William Apps, Nick Lawson, Jennifer Fouche, Aysha Quinn, Matthew Pilieci

Not to worry, this troupe hasn't gone too brainy on us-the running gag of no toilet paper and ways to dispose of fecal matter proves they're as scatological as ever. But Amerissiah works chiefly because Ahonen seems to be after something bigger than cheap laughs. The family's eventual grapple with faith and how they process it is presented in a blessedly straightforward fashion for the most part, and despite the usual indulgences (a little of the ghetto, trash-spouting Missouri husband goes a long way), the results are both funny and often weighty.

superb cast, as per usual, proves a major asset. Company regulars Lemp, Pilieci, Beretta and Kautz are plenty engaging, but as the contemptuous father and son re-exposing old wounds, Walsh and Apps often create the most fully-rounded portrayals. The former has a delicious way with a one-liner (sample: “Don't knock the faggots, I'm a liberal!”), and the latter so warmly embodies Ricky he truly makes you sympathetic to him, something I never thought I'd say about a character in an Amoralists comic drama.

The play could benefit from some minor pruning (admittedly, their work still seems a little stretched), but the proceedings are fully realized, including the terrifically tacky set by Al Schatz and Jeremy Pape's lighting, which is especially arresting in the play's final stretch. Say what you will about this company, they are pretty top-to-bottom professional, and with Amerissiah, they might even be going some new places. Good news, indeed.