Saints Go Marching On
Saints Go Marching OnExactly three years ago this week, I reviewed Kate Fodor's fear-of-God-inducing 100 Saints You Should Know during its initial Off-Broadway run at Playwrights Horizons.
For those New Yorkers who didn't have an opportunity to see that incarnation, you'll now have a chance to see another production.
Rebecca Hengstenberg is directing Pat Clune, Pat Dwyer, Catherine Goodman, Eddie Vona and Ellen Warner in a strictly limited engagement for this provocative play at The Shell Theater (300 West 43rd Street 4th floor) this September 22-25 at 8:00 p.m. and September 26 at 2:00 p.m.
100 Saints You Should Know is described by SmartTix as follows:
Theresa is estranged from her family and working as a cleaning woman when she is surprised by the desire to learn how to pray. Matthew, the priest whose rectory she cleans, is stunned and heartbroken by the realization that he no longer knows how to talk to God. When Matthew disappears one day, Theresa feels compelled to track him down, and her search changes both of their lives.While I regret not being available to be there for any of next weekend's performances -- especially given how moved I was three years ago by Fodor's compelling story of life and death as faith intersects with doubt -- I certainly wish I'd be able to see it anew.
If you have a chance to see the production, please let me know what you think. For tickets, please click here.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.
Labels: 100 Saints You Should Know, Catherine Goodman, Eddia Vona, Ellen Warner, Kate Fodor, Off-Broadway, Pat Clune, Pat Dwyer, Play, Rebecca Hengstenberg
posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Friday, September 17, 2010
3 Comments:
I saw the show last night. For being as off-off-off as it was, I was really surprised by the excellent writing, the spot-on direction, and the really compelling and intense performances by the cast. Bravo guys! This show should really get picked up and produced in an actual theater. It's a great show, and the audience was right there with every moment.
I saw the show the first performance, because I'm a friend of Pat Dwyer's. I didn't know the script or Fodor's work, but I thought it was an excellent, surprising, and moving play. I'm not unbiased about my friend Pat, I admit, but I thought he was great in the role of the priest who's finding himself moving away from his calling, increasingly isolated from others. It's a tricky part - how do you dramatize someone who's so emotionally jammed up? - but Pat was very believable and touching as this man who feels he's only connecting with other humans through art photo books. The script fortunately stays away from giving any easy answers for the characters or their dilemmas.
I've seen the show each performance because my husband is playing the priest who is the central character of the show. It is a pretty ensemble cast but his does seem to be the character upon which all the other characters' stories hinge. Each performance has been different and each performance has been good. All the actors are well cast and give very enjoyable and moving performances. Miss Fodor's writing is enjoyable - funny and though provoking. The show is well directed and moves with a steady and even pace. The audiences have been responding enthusiastically, many of them remarking during the intermission and after the play that they are surprised at how good it is. I think that, so often, we see our friends in these small productions of plays and have to lie to them afterward so as not to hurt their feelings because the show is (to any degree) painful to sit through; but this is not one of those occasions. Audience members are not afraid to wait around after and greet the actors because there is nothing to lie about: it's a good night of theater.
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