The World Expands (Actors Theatre of Louisville)

Wave After Wave

By Benjamin Benne

Directed by Amelia Acosta Powell

Review by Kate Barry

Entire contents are copyright © 2026 Kate Barry. All rights reserved.

Two cousins, one beach and life time of memories. Wave After Wave, a world premier making its debut with Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Storytelling Revolution Festival, is an intimate look at the bonds of family through the passage of time. The play shows how life is like an ocean, constantly drifting, returning and leaving the shore.

The Bingham has transformed into a beach with rocks on the shore and a gorgeous blue drapery serving as the ocean emerging from the voms. Katelin Ashcraft’s setting with Dani Clifford’s bold colored lighting creates distinct moods of reflection, anger, happiness and loss. Strewn throughout the production are multi media moments of evolution, light and darkness. These bold images are so vivid it’s as if they can hardly be contained in the performance space. The beach setting and fantastical images transforms the theater in the round into a truly “sacred familial space.”

Fernando Gonzalez and Abraham Makany embark on a soulful journey as Sean and Nathanael. As cousins, they experience life through the beach. Splashing in waves and losing buckets while building sandcastles as young children to vomiting after a big night of drinking to heart to hearts about growing families and reflection on shared experiences as old men. Gonzales and Makany are fully present and balance. They effortlessly toss the concise first person dialogue back and forth. The performances are meditative with a slow build, like the waves crashing on the shore.

Makany and Gonzalez provide distinct performances as the cousins. As Nathanael, Abraham Makany takes up space and relies on his intimidating stature even as a child. He is physically strong yet keeps his vulnerability in check. Makany shows how physically capable Nathanael is as he dreams of Division One swimming. As adolescent boys, Makany and Gonzalez engage in carefully choreographed fight sequences fueled by pubescent rage and insecurities. As Sean, Fernando Gonzalez is thoughtful and introspective as his love for jellyfish leads to a life of science. Fernando delivers relatable humor as he attempts to relieve his cousin’s jellyfish sting and attempting to bury him in the sand in other scenes. As Sean and Nathanael grow older, grievances are forgiven and love is shown as life slows down.

Wave After Wave shows the intricacies of the cousins' lives over the course of 90 minutes. Sean and Nathanael grow from children to men as they celebrate joy and face conflicts. Like the tides of the ocean, they face highs and lows but their bond runs deep.

Wave After Wave Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Storytelling Revolution Festival

April 1-12 2026

Bingham Theatre at Actors Theatre of Louisville

316 W Main St

Louisville KY 40202 https://www.actorstheatre.org