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Photos by Peter Goldberg
Cedric Lilly as Yeshua (Jesus), Karen Carpenter as Mary Magdalene.Background: Alexander Platt as Paul
Alexander Platt as Paul, with temple guards L to R: Ben Gracia, Kyle Blanchette, Jo-án Peralta, Marc Dante Mancini; and Anthony Goes as Barnabas.
Alexander Platt as Paul
The North American premiere of Howard Brenton's 'Paul' has already created a sub-class of dogmatic naysayers who are staying away from The Gamm in droves, deriding the (assumed) apostolic heresy of a show they have not even seen. Typical reaction, that, and one that could actually give 'Paul' more of a publicity boost than it would otherwise have received. No topic divides more than religion and no religion divides more than Christianity. 'Paul' sets out to deliver a blow to the former, in general, and the latter, specifically. But the questions it poses are more hypothetical, and as a result, more interesting than a simple-minded liberal affront on the Gospels. Our guess is that the same budding critics who are posting all over the Projo blogs will secretly show up to stick a finger in the wound and question their own doubts, let alone their faith.
In the end, it's just a play, and if you walk out of 'Paul' with your faith badly shaken, then that faith was on the rocks before you even walked in the building. We knew a Catholic priest once whose favorite movie was "The Life of Brian." Was it because he was confronting his own fears and suspicions concerning the cornerstones of his vow? Or did he just think it was hoot when they said "blessed are the cheesemakers?" That supposedly blasphemous piece of art didn't bother him out of the sacristy and, likewise, 'Paul' will not have you wondering anything about Jesus and his gang that you haven't pondered once or twice before. And the angry bloggers should show up just to reassure themselves that neither The Gamm nor Alex Platt are going to singlehandedly close down the Church anytime soon. But it's fun to watch them try...
Truth Talk
March 31, 2011
Director Tony Estrella refers to ‘Paul’ as a "“story about stories"†and, as such, it does the production a disservice to recount each plot point along the road of Saul/Paul’'s conversion and subsequent mission to spread Christianity to the Gentiles. The impact of the script, when it works, is in the alternatives posited by Brenton to the accepted “"myths"†of the story of Jesus and the apostles and the surrounding cast of characters we’'ve all come to know and love from Sunday school. Shocking? Not often enough, but certainly interesting. Frankly, the most dangerous moment of the evening came when two members of the audience (we like to imagine it was the aforementioned Projo bloggers) made a big show of storming out in an obvious huff upon hearing the mere suggestion that Jesus'’ resurrection story may have been a little beefed up by some of his followers. Scowling, they paraded in front of the actors and made as much noise as possible in the process. It was only here where we felt that we were experiencing something provocative, something bold. However, when the audience becomes one of the more compelling aspects of a production, there must be something missing…...
Alex Platt has the lion'’s share of the work as the titular lead and his battle to overcome the paradoxical juxtaposition of Paul'’s zealotry with his quiet intelligence is to be noted as a worthy effort. However, the script offers only narrow margins for depth and Platt has to turn on a dime too often to afford any real subtlety. He looks fantastic: appropriately wiry with a furious growth of beard and all-white clothing stained from years of desert proselytizing. His seizures (the “"thorn in the side"†which the biblical Paul is
believed to have suffered from) are startling without veering into the comical...…this is a man who has been through Hell in order to (hopefully) reach Heaven. But, in the end, we’'re underwhelmed and under-convinced. Platt delivers a fine performance, but to what end? We eventually care little about Paul other than to feel a tad sorry that he was so self-delusional and so easily used by those he cared about the most. The fact that he browbeats most of them with his piety and narrow-minded, often conservative viewpoints makes his naiveté hardly forgivable. In the end, we know that Paul’'s messages went far to spread the Gospel and create the Church, but the man we see here is a shell.
The play is ultimately a whodunit, a slow unraveling of deceit in which we learn, through a rather heavy-handed use of vignette and flashback, what supposedly *really* happened to Yeshua (Jesus) and Saul (Paul) between AD 34 and AD 65. Paul has several foils who all take turns in hiding and/or revealing pieces of broken “truth†to him. Jim O'’Brien’'s Peter is a bundle of frustration who also winds up straddling a line between fanaticism (or, if you prefer, a leap of faith) and cynical manipulation of Paul'’s situation. He is a man driven by fear of his own safety and, in the climax of the show, we'’re still left wondering whether he is redeemed or just a coward. It is actually Paul'’s greatest weakness, his blind faith, that becomes his greatest strength and keeps the ultimate revelation of personal betrayal from dragging him down. He turns it into something pure and Peter chooses this elevated path, however misguided, rather than the ignominious death in a foreign city that awaits them both.
Karen Carpenter’'s Mary Magdalene is played (and written?) as a period anachronism; a streetwise, tired whore right out of “"Taxi Driverâ€" who just wants to be a normal housewife...…knowing that, with her choice of husband, she can never be. She'’s crude and needy and, aside from being one of the most interesting, if predictable, plot twists in the story, we never really get a glimpse of how she actually feels for her celebrity husband or family. We only get to know that she wants out of the myth - or a better place in it. She’'s not low enough or elevated enough for us to really get a feel for her and the net effect is abrasive, with, once again, a lack of complexity that is neither written nor extracted from the little we get out of the script.
It is interesting, then, that one of the most subtle performances comes from one of the least drawn characters: Anthony Goes'’ Barnabas, who also comes across as Rhode Island regional, draws the most empathy as a man who grudgingly follows Paul, whom he clearly loves and admires, through all of his exploits until he finally is driven too far into the madness and quits. Goes' simple, almost pathetic turn of conversion and subsequent baptism is almost heartbreaking. We want to shout at him not to do it, while we secretly also want him to. It’'s a moment that embodies every paradox in the story and is worth an entire essay of its own. The scene is real, heartfelt and one of the most spiritual and realistically human moments of the evening.
Played for laughs, but no less engaging are the characters of the Arab trader and the Roman jailer, both portrayed by Ben Gracia, who recently stole the show at Barker’'s ‘'A Flea in Her Ear'.’ A comic villainy rides underneath both and Gracia knows when to imbue each with just the right dose of humanity to keep them real. The other comic relief is supplied by the utterly outrageous Emperor Nero, painted in white from head to toe and oozing lecherous camp sensibility. Kelby Akin seems a little too aware of himself at certain points in this short but powerful appearance, but the impact is felt and the theological/political/philosophical blow delivered by this twisted, intelligent antichrist is enough to shake Peter and Paul to their foundations.
Costume Designer David T. Howard presents Nero as a diaphanous glam queen, mostly naked and grotesquely whitewashed. It'’s an angel in the underworld, and compellingly repellent. The antithesis of Paul, whose similar coloring could never shine that bright for fear of burning out. The rest of the cast is also served well with period clothing that drapes and moves with the feeling and colors of the region and the time. Magdalene is allowed an almost tie-dyed silken dress offset by modest headdress and a hint (along with her tattoos) of her colorful past.
Michael McGarty'’s set was apparently pared down from an earlier design that envisioned the use of draped frames that would allow translucent shadows and projections. For budgetary reasons they settled on empty metal frames and large projection along the back wall. The effect is industrial and stark, evoking prison and walls of each character’'s own making. Walls that can be stepped through, hung from, climbed on and chained to depending on one'’s mindset. Simple, effective and clean. A boardwalk of sorts separates audience from stage and a recessed fire pit opens in the desert floor to allow implied flame to dart upwards. David Roy'’s lighting is effective and dramatic with sidelight spilling through stage entrances and strobe evoking Paul'’s fits. Specials are subtle and tastefully used. Changes of scene into flashback are masked only in blackout, which does not always keep us in the world of the story. Charles Cofone’'s sound design is inventive and well-integrated and one wonders why aural elements were not employed more often to cover those transitions. One area where Cofone seems to have used less effort is a preshow montage of disconnected songs that have religion somewhere in the theme. A little obvious, as was the choice of XTC’s whiny “"Dear Godâ€" as the show closer. This shuffled playlist effect sounded as if it came from a different person than the one who composed and crafted the thunderous booms, chirps and musical elements used within the show itself.
It is fitting then, that the question of whether or not to see ‘'Paul’' is a paradox, for these inconsistencies abound in both plot and production - some are intentional, others not so much. If you are looking to see something shocking and witness several sacred cows slaughtered, then you'’re bound to feel a little let down. If you'’re hoping for a decent production with some fine acting and a few light topics to discuss on the ride home, then you'’ll be ok. It'’s certainly not The Gamm’'s best production this year, but it’'s still a worthy effort and good blog fodder. If you'’re lucky, you'’ll witness a few protests and some righteous grumbling. A case of life imitating art - all in the same room.
'Paul' runs through April 17 at The Gamm Theatre, 172 Exchange St., Pawtucket, RI. Tickets are $30 and
$40 (depending on day/time). Discounts for subscribers, groups of 10 or more, seniors and students. For tickets call 401-723-4266 or go to gammtheatre.org.
