Salvation
Road
Written by
D. W. Gregory
Directed
by Alec Volz
Reviewed
by Cristina Martin
Entire
contents copyright © 2012 Cristina Martin. All rights reserved.
 |
| Ciaran Brown, Ethan Brown, Ethan Corder, Nan Elpers, Courtney Doyle in Salvation Road. Photo courtesy of Walden Theatre. |
Quick – a biology
quiz: What is a slant culture?
Think of a
test tube with a certain amount of liquid in it. There’s a limited amount of
surface area (where the liquid comes in contact with the air above it) where
organisms might grow if they were so inclined, right? But speaking of inclines,
if you tilt the test tube, this surface area gets bigger…and the potential for
the development of even more plentiful, vibrant organic matter is increased.
Clever
name for a new theatre festival, isn’t it? From the looks of the program and
the excitement of opening night, Louisville’s Slant Culture Theatre Festival
promises a fresh mix of staged performances, improv, interactive workshops,
discussions, staged readings and more, all destined to spawn and cultivate new
ideas. “A laboratory for uncommon theatre,” the festival features experiments
sure to produce memorable outcomes.
D.W.
Gregory’s Salvation Road is a play in
one act, presented on Walden Theater’s main stage under the direction of Alec
Volz. In keeping with the original directive behind the Slant Culture Series of
plays to encourage young actors to “seek inspiration from a new angle –
inward,” Gregory draws very bravely from sensitive autobiographical material to
create a poignant, thoughtful piece. A vibrant, idealistic young woman named
Denise (Courtney Doyle) – modeled after the playwright’s own sister – becomes heavily
involved with a fundamentalist religious group on her college campus. Her
family is unsure of her whereabouts, as she has cut all ties with her former
life in favor of devotion to the group’s agenda. The play, narrated by her
brother Cliff (Ethan Corder), focuses on the impact this has left on Denise’s
family as it follows the efforts of Cliff, his friend Duffy (Chris Lockhart), and
his younger sister Jill (Tess Varga) to find Denise and talk to her.
Salvation Road follows a neat narrative arc that is
never too predictable, and profound themes are balanced by lighthearted moments
and funny dialogue. The actors are very well cast and do a remarkably
believable job. As Cliff and Duffy take to the road, Jill remains at home, at
least initially. Chris Lockhart’s laid-back Duffy makes a great road-tripping
partner to the more intense Cliff and keeps the action grounded. (Sure, they’re
on a mission to find a person in possibly dire straits; but who doesn’t have
time to flirt with the girl behind the counter at McDonald’s and get a
shake?)
It’s
remarkable that despite flashbacks and the use of stage space to suggest
multiple settings (sometimes at the same time, as when two characters, both on
stage, are speaking to one another on cell phones), the production is
temporally and spatially as clear as a bell. With judicious placement of just a
few stools and another piece of wood or two, we’re convinced we’re looking at a
band performing in a bar, or two guys driving in a car, or a fast food counter
in a strip mall. Amazing, really. The play is staged in the round, which works
well for the most part. Once or twice I felt myself wishing I could see the
action from a better angle, but these instances were rare.
“How can
you be so sure?” is the question the rational, skeptical Cliff longs to ask Denise
if and when he finds her. The playwright treats the often difficult subject of
religion deftly; in fact, what has caused Denise to join the Fellowship, as
it’s called, is much more the subject in question than are religious tenets
themselves. How can any of us really be so sure of anything that we’re willing to throw ourselves wholeheartedly
behind it, leaving behind that which was previously important to us? What’s the
pay-off? We, too, are invited to look inward and to explore fundamental
questions of human nature, individuality, and belonging.
Cliff and
Duffy search out shrewd Sister Jean (Chandler Dalton), a Catholic nun on campus
known for her experience dealing with young people swept away like Denise has
been. Sister Jean argues that the Fellowship’s recruitment methods are very
calculated. Using a “bait and switch” tactic, they seem to offer friendship to
students new to college, out of their comfort zone and seeking to belong
somewhere…and end up demanding that these young people renounce all that makes
them them. They don’t allow them to
see their families and even insist that members take on new names. What’s the
difference between that and Sister Jean’s religious order? She joined with the
full knowledge of what was involved, she says. And her feistiness makes clear
that she has definitely retained a capacity for independent thought. Chandler
Dalton brings out the somewhat enigmatic aspect of Sister Jean very
effectively. The nun is stern and no-nonsense, but her cocked head and long
stare suggest that the wheels are always turning, taking the measure of people and
situations. When she sends Cliff to talk to former Fellowship member Simi
(Helen Lister), it’s ostensibly to help him find his sister, though Sister Jean
arranges the meeting in view of a very calculated effect on both Cliff and
Simi. Ethan Corder seemed to really allow Cliff’s feelings about Denise to come
through in this conversation with Simi in a more immediate way than they do
when he narrates. It felt as though the audience got to know him better when he
wasn’t talking directly to them.
Ciaran
Brown plays student Fellowship leader Elijah with a chilling otherworldly
creepiness. Brown manages to radiate a kind of hypnotic self-assurance that
makes Elijah’s particular brand of charisma plausible. He seems mild-mannered
enough, until we witness the sort of absolute power he wields over his group. In
one wrenchingly powerful scene, Fellowship members surround Denise under
Elijah’s direction and confront her about her “sin of attachment” to her music.
Recognizing her passion, they enfolded her at the start by asking her to play
music for their services; now they say her music engenders pride and therefore
stands between her and Salvation. Publicly humiliated, she gives up her beloved
guitar – and receives smiles and hugs all around. Whatever your religious
beliefs, you can’t remain unmoved at a scene like this.
Cliff marshals
his rational arguments: The Fellowship’s
founder used to be a vacuum cleaner salesman! He sits in a big, fancy house
while his followers peddle carnations to help the hungry! Surely such hypocrisy
would disgust Denise. But it’s not to Denise’s reason that the group appealed,
and, intelligent as she is, it’s not via rational argument that Cliff is going
to get her to leave them. Ultimately, he can just speak to the truth he knows:
that Denise’s absence leaves a gaping hole in the family and in him. That he’s
sorry for the times he didn’t pay as much attention to her as he might have,
that he loves her, and that he wants her back. How the conversation will go is
for us to surmise.
Salvation Road is a moving and well-crafted play,
impressively staged and acted as part of Louisville’s first Slant Culture
Theatre Festival (of many, let’s hope!). The play stirs emotions and engenders
thought that will occupy audiences long after the stage is bare. Fine
experimental theatre indeed!
Salvation
Road
November
8-18, 2012
Walden
Theatre, as part of the
SLANT
Culture Theatre Festival
1123 Payne
Street
Louisville,
KY 40204
(502)
589-0084
I was fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to see a production of Dw Gregory's Salvation Road by NYU two days before Hurricane Sandy struck. That production was necessarily cut short, so it is good to see others are taking this important play under wing and presenting such soaring performances in the process. Thank you for this review, thank you to the actors, directors, and all invloved with this festival, and thank you most of all to Ms. Gregory, who continues to bring wonderful play after wonderful play into the limelight for all of us to enjoy.
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