Necromancy does not fare well in Esteban R. Alvarez III’s “Just Outside the Door” which just ended its three-performance run at the Broadway Bound Theatre Festival. The play’s protagonist is Robert (a troubled yet charming Danny Bryck) the desperate grandson who kidnaps his dying Abuela (a feisty and funny Debra Cardona) in order to save her, but must learn to cope with depression, grief, and self-acceptance before it is too late. The play begins in Robert’s parents’ home just before he “kidnaps” his grandmother and, shortly thereafter, in Robert’s car as he speeds away from the house and the road trip with his Abuela begins.

Although this scene (entitled ‘Denial’) is intended to provide the audience with some needed exposition about the two characters, it quickly becomes labored as the exposition decays into useless information about Robert’s deceased Abuelo and Abuela’s extensive and kitschy cow collectibles that a young Robert partially destroyed. What the audience does learn is that both grandson and grandmother are grieving and the play progresses through Elizabeth Kübler-Ross’s five stages of death – with anger and bargaining transposed.

Their grief may or may not be related to mortality; rather, there is bereavement about loss of self-understanding, self-worth, and the absence of unconditional love. After the pair arrive at Robert’s home, Robert receives multiple calls from his parents and sister (off-stage voices by Kristin Mercer, Natacha Cryan, and Jeremiah Braiman) urging him to come home to attend some important event. Robert also receives multiple calls from Jamie whose sex remains a “mystery.” In none of these calls is Abuela mentioned – perhaps the only clue given by the playwright that something is yet to be revealed.

The revelation is that the “kidnapping” is an extended metaphor for Robert’s journey to accept himself – he is gay, and Jamie (a compassionate and forbearing Rory Kulz) is his boyfriend – and his journey to accept the loss of his grandmother whose funeral he is trying his best to avoid. All the scenes with Abuela are “imaginary” and serve as a means for Robert to face his multiple conflicts. When it becomes clear that Robert has been alone throughout the play, it seems anti-climactic.

Mr. Alvarez III wants to have it both ways. He wants the audience to believe the play progresses in real time with Abuela being present and he wants the audience to be completely surprised when he provides “the reveal.” For this conceit to work, the audience needs a few “ghostly” clues. For example, it is not feasible that Robert’s grandmother handles objects in the real time narrative. She cannot take a crystal from Robert then leave it on his couch. She is a phantasm and needs to interact with Robert and the audience as a phantasm.

Had the playwright simply used the presence of Abuela to allow Robert to face his fear of coming out to his family and to pass through the stages of “death” to full acceptance of his sexual status, the play would work far better. It is enough to know that Abuela always told Robert she would be “just outside the door” is he ever needed her. Robert’s gradually letting his grandmother go and deciding to return home for her funeral would have counterpointed with his need to let go of his fear and self-recrimination.

The actors seem to struggle with the script throughout and this would seem to result from the struggles Mr. Alvarez III is still having with his script. Hopefully this limited run will give him the opportunity to reexamine the structure of “Just Outside the Door” and tighten up his script. In its current development, there are too many obstacles for a satisfying resolution.