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The latest production from Blessed Unrest has been kicking around, at least conceptually, for over 20 years, according to artistic director Jessica Burr. Seeing the show, that’s easy to believe. Sometimes an idea that gets hold of a creative individual or team, but doesn’t gel in a reasonable amount of time, gets under their skins and takes on a life of its own. Body Unredacted remains a work in progress but is receiving a full-fledged production, and it shows a lot of heart – and a lot of skin. But its organs are in disarray.
The talented cast of six gives (and shows) their all in this dreamlike collage of narrative. An artist who paints nudes philosophizes about how he tries to take in each model’s body as if it were the first he’d ever seen. In a parallel scenario, a trauma surgeon trying to save the life of a mauled woman confesses the same sentiment (not something I think I’d want my surgeon to say, but never mind that). The common thread of these two main stories, and of the show that hangs on them, is how we perceive and think about the human body – our own, and others’.
We get a kaleidoscope of perspectives and commentary, and are invited to look at and even fantasize about the actors’ bodies, which go beyond the traditional cisgender dyad. Sometimes we are addressed directly by the artist’s partner, who also trades in body language – by reading palms. Sometimes we watch choreography – wordless and repetitive – that seems to suggest a kinship among all bodies, or universal love, or something, I couldn’t say.
In bits and pieces, we follow the tale of the wounded woman. But her story has a big hole: She refuses to tell the doctor who or what attacked her. Confusingly, the other story thread presents as a figment of another character’s imagination what we think we have learned “actually” happened.
A third sub-sequence involves a budding, then maturing, then souring love relationship. But it takes place in a contextual vacuum, between avatars rather than true characters, so we don’t become invested and the scenes bore.
Body Unredacted might be best described as theatrical conceptual art. That’s something very tough to succeed at, given the visceral nature of live theater. It’s a valiant and heartfelt try, and it could be interesting to see what this “work in progress” progresses toward. So far, it’s hard to envision.
Body Unredacted from Blessed Unrest runs through May 17, 2026 at The Makers’ Space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
