Passion Play, a Cycle
Posted by Administrator in Passion Play. Ultram No Prescription Prevacid For Sale Ultram Generic Buy Prednisone Online Toprol XL Without Prescription Amoxil No Prescription Elimite For Sale Cipro Generic Buy Stromectol Online Aricept Without PrescriptionPassion Play, a Cycle
Sarah Ruhl’s much-anticipated “Passion Play, a Cycle” will be cherished by many Arena Stage patrons but may disappoint others. The former group will be engrossed by this rich tapestry of imagery, biting dialogue, and observations on the intersection of religion and politics despite the almost four-hour length of the presentation (including two intermissions), while the latter will view the work as self-indulgent and disjointed.
However, all can take pleasure in the skilled acting by most of the 12-member cast and in director Molly Smith’s passionate stagecraft. Indeed, one has to admire the effort it takes to pull off a scene where Queen Elizabeth I is shown brandishing an assault rifle as dead fish perform a ballet around a soldier dying in Vietnam, all amidst the swirling fog of a nightmare. This is a sumptuous production, evocatively lit by Joel Moritz, with numerous set pieces designed by Scott Bradley effortlessly blooming out of and then melting back into the floor.
The darkly comic and frequently surreal trilogy spans 400 years of actors immersed in the cultural phenomenon of the Passion Play, which chronicles the last hours of Jesus Christ and which some communities have turned into a cottage industry. We see troupes in Elizabethan England, Hitler’s Germany, and the Religious Right’s America dealing with personal issues of morality juxtaposed against the pressures of religious/political holds on society. But since Ruhl’s point is that the more things change, the more they remain the same, one wonders why this sprawling study could not have been condensed a bit and more sharply focused. Read more