Funny and poignant unraveling of what really happened in ‘It’s Not What It Looks Like’ at Off-Broadway’s SoHo Playhouse

When, to the sounds of rain, thunder, and flashes of lightning, M and W (their real names are bleeped) are seen by everyone with fresh blood on their hands, arms, faces, and clothing, they have to go back to the beginning of the metaphorical storm that struck them to give their version of what really happened and to prove their innocence in It’s Not What It Looks Like, now making its world premiere in a limited Off-Broadway engagement at SoHo Playhouse, after being named the winner of the venue’s 2023 Lighthouse Series.

Written by John Collins and starring Collins and collaborator Chesney Mitchell, the thoroughly engrossing two-hander moves back and forth between the actors directly addressing the audience to explain and re-enacting scenes of the many months of events leading up to their current testimony. Under the compelling direction of Vincent DeGeorge, they tell us about their background, familial relationship, and loss, relocation to an apartment in NYC, struggles with work, nights of drinking, drugs, and partying at a disco, the people they encountered, and their strange connection with a man named Martino (or Marty, or Joe, since he looks and talks like actor Joe Pesce, known for his roles as a mobster).

He gives them support and almost becomes a surrogate father to help them through their financial challenges and grief, inviting them to fine restaurants, a tennis match, and his homes, offering job prospects, and hosting a gala in their honor. But then things change, questions arise, and they wonder if he’s truly the good person they’ve seen him as and begin to consider who he really might be. Oh, and there’s that old out-of-tune piano and an ill-timed call about a delivery from a fast-food chain that contribute to the ever-increasing tension . . .

Collins and Mitchell deliver fully engaging and empathetic performances filled with emotion and mystery as M and W and the variety of characters they reference and imitate (their gangster stylings of Marty are especially hilarious), as they move around and dance, laugh, cry, and hug, and masterfully transition from startled to defensive, fun-loving to grief-stricken, close and caring to angry and explosive, and keep us hanging on every word and clue to uncovering the true story.

It’s all done on a bare stage with just two movable red metal chairs and a bench, two cell phones, and large projections on a back-wall screen that identify the locations of the scenes and count down the number of days to the interrogation and its aftermath, with perfectly synchronized lighting by Nicholas Pollock and William Hinternhoff (Willow Reed serves as light board operator) and sound and voiceovers (Mali Mitchell operates the sound board) that set the moods and locales and heighten the thrills and suspense. The rest is conjured by the transporting actors, writing, and direction.

To divulge any more would spoil the revelations of the characters and development of the plot, so suffice it to say that It’s Not What It Looks Like will keep you guessing and leave you wondering if we can ever trust our first impressions and instincts or if there’s always more to the story. It will also show you why it was awarded and deserved the top prize in last year’s Lighthouse Series.

Running Time: Approximately 95 minutes, without intermission.

It’s Not What It Looks Like plays through August 10, 2024, at SoHo Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street, NYC. For tickets (priced at $41.50, including fees), go online.