Dobama finds the truth in ‘This,’ an engaging play about loss Bob Abelman Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning Journal “I’m back,” says Jane, just before the lights dim for the final time in the 100-minute, intermission-less treatise on grief that is Melissa James Gibson’s “This.” Up until that moment, Jane has been standing on the threshold of moving on with her life after the death of her husband, but is incapable of moving forward. She’s been sleepwalking through the last year absentmindedly raising her 9-year-old daughter, inattentively interacting with her small circle of friends who are invested in their own personal crises, and going through the motions at work. This sounds terribly depressing and the play’s monosyllabic title implies a numbing simplicity in the storytelling, but “This” is an engaging and complicated work, as are most of Gibson’s creations including her Obie Award-winning “[sic]” and Emmy Award-winning “House of Cards.” For more of this article, go to www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/bob_abelman/