B Street is a wonderful place to stage and see theater.

However, why would they even produce White Chip?

White Chip does not meet standards of what a play is: a play poses and answers a driving question, a play has actable moments, a play draws an audience in to do its own emotional work to join with the characters in some fundamental catharsis.

Nor is White Chip even a good story. In a good story, the teller must make every word deliberate to build his "so what?"

Maybe it's a sermon. After all, the main character tells us everything you need to see and do to find redemption.

Maybe the author does have a story to tell, but I suspect that he is still too close to recovery to get the needed distance to do more than regurgitate his AA story. Either he doesn't have the skill or the courage to really reveal anything more than the superficial about being a drunk. He never really grapples with the white chip really is all about.

And, structurally, why even bother with additional characters who have no more depth than stick puppets.

I worry that the production team gets hypnotized or falls in love with a particular issue or topic and forgets that the fundamentals must be in place for excellence. Get rigorous! Sacramento deserves better.