One man play “Unreconciled” takes over the Barebones Black Box Theater

By Dave Parsons

Braddock, Pennsylvania is about 10 miles east of Pittsburgh, along the Monongahela River.  Nestled along the steel mills and downtown area that was lost to the malls decades ago, situated in a former abandoned Chevrolet dealership, is a theater that shares its first floor with a restaurant space with a really nice courtyard.

The theater only has 70 seats and is known as the Barebones Black Box Theater.  It has small productions that are traveling the country, stopping by for a week or two at a time, bringing top notch plays that would not be commercial enough for the bigger theaters, but in many ways much more entertaining.

It was on opening night that I made the journey, with the help of my trusty Google maps app to find the theater. Unreconciled, a one-man autobiographical play co-written by Jay Sefton and Mark Basquill, directed by Geraldine Hughes, was premiering.  Performed as a one man play by Sefton himself, it digs into Sefton’s personal story of surviving clergy abuse. From being cast as Jesus in a school play directed by a parish priest the story winds its way through his journey to confront things from all angles, including a joke of a victims’ reparations program established by the Catholic Church, to finding the courage to voice his truth. 

Jay Sefton was born in Pennsylvania, holds a master’s degree in psychology and is both an actor and licensed mental health counselor. He has appeared in many TV series, including “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Summerland,” and “Providence.”  Sefton told me after the performance that writing the play was his therapy, but performing it was fun.   Sefton portrays a cast of characters, including himself, his father, the abusive priest, his mom, the church program workers and others connected to the story.  He gives each character their own life and depth and does a fair balancing act in letting you see them from his perspective. 

Having served an actor and therapist brings a deeper depth to the writing, than say a fictional work by a theater major might offer. He has literally worked with other male survivors of childhood clergy abuse, and so pulls from every angle to get the points across.  The set design of one chair and a video screen behind him, combined with the intimate nature of the theater, draws the audience into Sefton’s world and experiences.  The videos on the screen are the actual footage, much converted from VHS, that makes the audience feel like you are one on one in his living room hearing the story.

Sefton has stated he wrote an opinion piece in a Pennsylvania newspaper, on his experience navigating the compensation fund.  The article was shared online and folks started reaching out with their own experiences. This led to wanting to write a solo show.  

Sefton was inspired more after seeing Geraldine Hughes perform her acclaimed solo show Belfast Blues in Los Angeles. This led him to participate in a solo show workshop Hughes conducted and laid the groundwork for Unreconciled. Hughes, a distinguished actress and playwright herself, with work in films such as Rocky Balboa and Gran Torino, does an incredible job directing Unreconciled.  In her words to me, Jay is amazing and so great to work with. 

The combination of Hughes’s directorial expertise with Sefton’s personal recollection, in conjunction with the Blackbox theater setting makes for a night out you will not soon forget.  After it’s Pittsburgh run, the play moves on to other cities.  The upcoming dates are on the website.   https://www.unreconciledtheplay.com/

The entire season of offerings at the Braddock Black Box theater can be found at : https://www.barebonesproductions.com/