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Disclaimer:
The reviewers' opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of TheatreLouisville.org. |
Peer Reviews Holy Ghosts
The concept of religious conversion, the moment in an individual's life where they feel compelled beyond reason to accept and embrace faith in their lives, perhaps even allow it to govern all aspects of their existence, is a powerful image in American theatre, but only rarely has there been an attempt to explore it outside of "Christian" writing. In Holy Ghosts, Romulus Linney examines such events in the lives of multiple characters, members of a Pentecostal religious sect in the south. A young bride, Nancy Shedman, flees her difficult marriage for the comfort of an enigmatic preacher and his dedicated flock. Her bitter, brutal husband, Coleman, pursues her, lawyer in tow, to seek a divorce and the return of some of his possessions. Upon confronting her, her case is joined by the church members and their colorful leader, the Reverend Buckhorn. During the course of their exchange, several of the church members "testify" as to how they came to the church. This is an intense script, dark but funny, and director Charlie Sexton keeps a steady pace, letting the play build to a boisterous and frothy climax of fervent prayer and snake handling that was startling to witness. The actors were undaunted in tackling this challenging and adult material, reminding us once again that Walden is theatre first, never making concessions in their choice of material to accommodate the youthful cast. It is not necessary since the youthful cast is more than up to the task. Mitchell Martin filled the stage with fury and bluster as the vengeful husband, and Holly Fisher provided a solid, unmovable object of newfound faith as Nancy Shedman. The role of the Pentecostal patriarch, Obediah Buckhorn, Sr., is the type of part that is so easily overplayed, but Eliot Zellers achieves just the right balance of control and release. Several of the congregation were given moments to tell their story of faith discovered: brief but choice moments that prove this a generous script to a company of eager actors. Among these, Alex Whitney and Danny Koenig were a particular highlight, seizing the stage with physical force to prove their devotion. Late in the second act, Carter Caldwell turns a recurring joke into the kind of moment an actor lives for, as the tone shifts subtly but dramatically and the audience is caught beautifully off-guard. You could feel a chill run through the audience. The remainder of the cast filled out the production in fine form, and the spare set design effectively pushed the boundaries of the action into the audience without ever feeling like a gimmick. The costumes were, for the most part, appropriately plain and non-descript, for characters that are poor, rural and Pentecostal, but manage to reinforce character through small details. By play's end, many of the easy assumptions we are likely to make about these extreme characters are questioned and perhaps entirely reversed, and some modicum of understanding has been delivered. Mr. Linney has asked us to laugh at them, certainly, but he has also has forced us to consider them in a different light.
Holy Ghosts
Posted via donated wi-fi during the power outage, Sept. 20, 2008
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