Theater Review: The Morality Play at the Gamm

Wednesday, January 07, 2015

Thom Bassett, GoLocalProv Contributor

 

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Top to bottom: Jesse Hinson as Nicholas Barber, Tony Estrella as Martin Bell, Elliot Peters as Springer

Fans of Barry Unsworth’s 1995 novel Morality Play could reasonably wonder what might be sacrificed in a stage adaptation of its story. Unsworth’s remarkably evocative descriptions of a gray, snow swept world whose inhabitants are threatened by the Black Plague, as well as plagues of a different sort from the high and powerful, don’t translate easily to the stage. 

But Tony Estrella’s fantastic original adaptation, 15 years in the making, and having its world premiere at the Sandra Feinstein Gamm Theatre, offers ample compensating virtues. Directed by Tyler Dobrowsky,  Associate Artistic Director at Trinity Rep, this production is a lively, moving, and profound exploration of the risks and necessity of story-telling. 

Set in northern England in December 1361, the story centers on a ragged troupe of traveling actors headed by master-player Martin Bell (Estrella). After one in the group dies, they decide to take on Nicholas Barber (Jesse Hinson) as a replacement. The troupe then heads into a village for a few performances to raise desperately needed money. There they discover that the boy Thomas Wells has been murdered, and a young deaf-mute named Jane Lambert (Clara Weishahn) is sentenced to death for the crime.

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It quickly becomes apparent that good and evil in this horrific episode aren’t as easily distinguished as in the well-worn morality plays the actors specialize in. As the actors learn more about Wells’s death, Bell pushes them to do the unprecedented: Present a play about the young boy’s murder itself. He intuits that it would be very popular (aren’t true crime stories always?), thus allowing the troupe to easily refill its coffers. 

Much more turns out to be at stake, though, for the troupe than staging a money-maker, and Estrella’s adaptation does a wholly admirable job at guiding the audience through the many twists and turns of this medieval whodunit. The dialogue is fast-paced and crisply delivered by the cast. It soon becomes clear that the “official story” that assigns culpability to Lambert for Wells’s murder just doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. 

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Jed Hancock Brainerd as Straw. Background L to R: Normand Beauregard as Tobias, Elliot Peters as Springer

Bell eventually leads his fellow actors to assert their account of the murder literally in the face of power. The results are surprising and emotionally powerful. The play is therefore thoroughly enjoyable as a historical murder mystery. Estrella’s adaptation keeps us guessing until the very end as to who’s responsible for Wells’s grisly murder, along with other killings of children that are discovered along the way. 

Several aspects of the production deserve particular praise. Dobrowsky’s direction and staging are top notch. The specially constructed raised seating creates a theater in the round effect that creates intimacy and involvement with the players.  The actors enter and exit the central stage from unexpected angles; the results are engaging and never confusing. During the plays performed within this play the actors wear masks designed by Erik Bornstein that are both beautiful and grotesquely entrancing. 

The cast of 16 is collectively very strong. The actors’ physicality is especially impressive, with Weishahn as the stand-out performer on this point. Her Jane Lambert is capable of only wordless vocalizing, so it’s the way she uses her body to express her despair and terror that resonates so powerfully. An entirely lineless scene with Estrella’s Bell is the emotional climax of the production. Also, Hinson, in his Gamm debut, is marvelous as Barber. His transformation from a callow, intellectually obtuse priest to a courageous, compassionate man who make his life as an actor is utterly convincing.  

In addition, Richard Donelly stands out as both a mentally deficient beggar and as a representative of the king, whose unblinking assessment of the possibilities of justice are as chilling as the winter skies that hang low over the world of the play. Casey Seymour Kim’s depiction of Margaret reveals in the set of her jaw and the narrowing of her eyes the woman’s wounds and strengths. Elliot Peters’ Springer shows that this young actor continues to develop wonderfully.

For all its strengths, this production does stumble at times. Richard Noble’s Lord DeGuise seems more like a fussy cartoon villain than the assured, prideful autocrat he’s supposed to be. And Act 2’s jousting scene, albeit brief, is both unnecessary and staged in a way that suffers in comparison with the rest of the stagework.

Nevertheless, these flaws are easily overlooked. This is the Gamm’s thirtieth season, and this first-ever stage adaptation of Morality Play is definitely something to celebrate during this anniversary year. Tony Estrella’s masterful reworking of Barry Unsworth’s novel, combined with a stellar group of performers, yields a sophisticated, resonant, and entertaining production that’s not to be missed. 

Morality Play runs through February 1st at the Gamm Theatre, 172 Exchange St, Pawtucket. Tickets are $38 and $48. Discounts for subscribers, groups of 10 or more, seniors and students. For tickets call 401-723-4266 or go to gammtheatre.org.

 

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