Written and Directed by Seth Panitch
The University of Alabama
at 59 E 69 Theaters, New York
What's it About?
Well, what if our thoughts about who goes to heaven and hell were all backwards? In Panitch's tongue-in-cheek mix up of an afterlife, lawyer Simon Ackerman (Matt Lewis) finds himself being sized up for a position in hell by The Interviewer (Panitch). They don't accept just anyone there, it seems. Simon is confused, at first, thinking that as a religious man, he would naturally want to go to heaven, until he discovers that's God (Dianne Teague), archangel Gabriel (Peyton Conley) and the residents there are, well, very boring. It seems that heaven is the destination for those who don't think for themselves, who follow blindly, and who stop questioning because they are supposed to have faith. One might just want to spend eternity where "everyone else" who has thought for themselves and done something unique with their lives go.
The folks in hell, who gather at a bar happy hour to hear the likes of Frank Sinatra (Conley) and Elvis Presley (Lawson Hangartner) croon "Let's Fall in Love," are much more interesting. They include Vlad the Impaler (Chip Persons), Shakespeare (Conley), Don Juan (Hangartner) and Lizzie Borden (Alexandra Ficken) as well as a Sophia-Loren-wannabe Mother Theresa (Stacy Panitch) who is upset that Princess Diana's funeral got more viewership.
To help Simon choose the right eternal destination, The Interviewer shows movie highlights of the fall of Adam and Eve (Hongartner and Ficken) and Lucifer (Persons) where God kind of seems selfish and befuddled, Gabriel's in love with his own importance and Satan seems the most reasonable of them all.
What are the highlights:
It's clever and funny and doesn't take itself very seriously. The performances are good, particularly for a university group trying their legs Off-Broadway.
What are the lowlights:
There doesn't seem to be a point after the initial smile brought on by "let's think about how eternity would look if we shook everything up." It's not apparent that the play is trying to make the point that we've got it all wrong, which is good, because it would fail given a lot of theological errors which it incorporates (Satan has a soul; Eve wasn't tempted to eat the apple; God withholds knowledge to manipulate; Luicfer tells God off; God grants someone's prayer have sex on prom night; it's Lucifer's idea that God allow free will -- just to name a few), but it's not clear what the point is exactly. The joke seems to stretch a little thin, though, even at 90 minutes with no intermission.
More information:
The play runs through July 22 at 59 East 59th Street, NYC. The performance schedule is Tuesday – Thursday at 7:15 pm; Friday and Saturday at 8:15 pm; and Sunday at 3:15 pm. Tickets are $18 ($12.60 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call 212- 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.
Panitch is is Associate Professor of Acting and heads the MFA and Undergraduate Acting programs at the University of Alabama. Visit his page at http://www.sethpanitch.com/.
Christians might also like to know:
-- If you are looking for theologically sound, skip this one.
--Language
-- Sexual dialogue
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