I had an opportunity last week to watch an engaging and fascinating new play produced by Dutch Kills Theater Company at the performance space at 46 Walker Street in SoHo. "In Quietness" by Anna Moench and Directed by Danya Taymor takes a look at the role of woman in a traditional fundamentalist Christian culture. Set in a seminary in Texas, women who are married to aspiring pastors are indoctrinated into how to be the kind of supportive and submissive spouse and "help meet" that an over-literal interpretation of the Bible might lead one to believe that God expects from a godly woman. Ms. Moench treats this controversial subject with grace, adding layers of complexity in relationships that keep this play from straying too far into the territory of stereotype and polemics.
Paul (Blake DeLong) feels the call to ministry, but is trapped in a marriage to emotionally distant and career-obsessed Max (Kate MacCluggage). He strays into an affair with a woman. As the action of the play begins, that woman has been hit by a car and lies in a vegetative state in the hospital. Paul sits in front or her bed soliloquizing about his dilemmas in life. Despite his decision to continue studying for the ministry, he cannot let go of his love for this woman, and he holds vigil at her hospital bedside, both as the play opens and as it winds down. Meanwhile, Max reluctantly enrolls in the special course, taught by spinster Terri (Alley Scott), to learn to be a godly woman who supports her pastor husband "in quietness and full submission" (I Timothy 2:11)
 |
| Blake DeLong as Paul "In Quietness" by Anna Moench Dutch Kill Theater Company Through January 30th |
A fellow student in Terri's course is Beth (Lucy DeVito), who is struggling to be submissive to her abusive husband, Dusty (Rory Kulz). Each of the actors creates a believable character. The role of Dusty as written comes the closest to being one dimensional, for he appears only briefly to berate Beth. Beth is deeply conflicted, feeling a call to preach, but also believing that women are forbidden to fill that role. She compensates be prophetically challenging Paul to be more of a man. Ms. DeVito is a spitfire in this key role. As the conflicted Max, Ms. MacCluggage shows us a complicated woman torn between career, love for husband and resentment at his affair with a woman who lies in the hospital "in quietness." The playwright seems to be asking just how many ways a woman can be silenced. By an accident - an act of God - and by following an outmoded and misogynistic interpretation of Scripture. As Terri, Ms. Scott uses OCD-type gestures to paint a picture of a woman struggling to keep everything in perfect order, often pulling at the hem of her garment to make sure there are no wrinkles and that everything is just so. Mr. DeLong presents Paul as haunted by the dissonance between his call to ministry and the emptiness he has felt in his marriage to Max, and in his grieving for the other woman he has come to love.
 |
| Kate MacCluggage as Max Blake DeLong as Paul Alley Scott as Terri Lucy DeVito as Beth
"In Quietness" by Anna Moench
Dutch Kill Theater Company
Through January 30th
|
Ms. Moench offers no easy answer, but does an excellent job in prompting the audience to ask difficult questions about faith, fundamentalism and the role of modern women in a church that is steeped in the past. Director Taymor keeps the pace of the action moving along briskly, and the set by Kristen Robinson, Costumes by Beth Goldenberg, Lighting by Masha Tsimring and Caitlin Smith Rapoport and Sound by Asa Wember all contribute to a very intriguing and satisfying evening at the theater.
The play must close this weekend, so hurry to get your tickets while they are still available.
Dutch Kills Theater Website
Enjoy!
Al
No comments:
Post a Comment