Well, I'll Let You Go review

Danny McCarthy and Quincy Tyler Bernstine in Well, I'll Let You Go (Emilio Madrid)

How well do you really know the people that you've lived with and loved for years, even decades? In Bubba Weiler's beautifully rendered new play about overcoming loss and grief, Well, I'll Let You Go, young widow Maggie (Quincy Tyler Bernstine, never better) seeks to understand and come to terms with the sudden death of her husband Marv (Severance's Michael Chernus) as she's visited by a cross section of people both familiar and unknown, who confound her, confuse her and ultimately help her heal.

In a series of two-character scenes — as well as through narration provided by Marv — more about Marv, Maggie and their long marriage is revealed. Before she married, Maggie had hoped to move to Chicago, but instead settled down with Marv, who helped people in their small Midwestern town as a lawyer while Maggie became a teacher. They never had children. 

Maggie is visited by the troubled cousin her husband looked after (Will Dagger); a funeral home rep (Constance Shulman); Maggie's longtime friend (Amelia Workman), who is married to Marv's brother (Danny McCarthy), another visitor; as well as a woman who keeps calling (Emily Davis) and her daughter (Cricket Brown).

As the nature of Marv's death and what led to it become clear, Weiler indulges in scenes that are a tad too long and numerous, but director Jack Serio handles it all with sensitivity, never letting the drama sink into tearjerker territory. 

There's not a bad performance in the mix, but special attention goes to Bernstine, a longtime stage actress whose work always cuts to the core. Her portrait of Maggie encompasses a range of emotions, from the heartfelt to the heartbreaking, and it's always enthralling.