Job does Heavy Lifting at the Flea

Job, now playing at the Flea, is a reasonably accurate retelling of the biblical story of Job, from the Old Testament.  As such, it is not a laugh riot.  The adaptation by Thomas Bradshaw follows the trials of Job (played in full voice by Sean McIntyre) as he is tested in his love for God.

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Sean McIntyre, Adam Lebowitz-Lockard photo Hunter Canning

Job embellishes the backstory wherein Satan (the always excellent Stephen Stout) is given full reign to challenge Job’s fidelity to God, played by Ugo Chukwu.  In Thomas Bradshaw's version, God’s sons, Jesus and Dionysus, function as witnesses to the bet.  Grant Harrison and Eric Folks play the sons of God as bickering brothers, self absorbed and uninterested in human endeavors.  It is a funny diversion that pops up occasionally during the show.  And the diversion is necessary because Job has more than its share of tragedy.  The Gods are unconcerned with the humans, except as a reflection of themselves.

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Marie-Claire Roussel, Sean McIntyre    .

Job, a penitent and honorable man, with full faith in God is subject to tests that no mortal should have to endure.  One of Job's sons graphically kills and then rapes Job’s daughter.  His other son witnesses this and kills his brother and then himself.  Job’s wife, Cleo Gray bringing the inconsolable woman vividly to life, leaves him when he cannot renounce God.

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But for Satan and God, this isn’t proof enough of Job’s faithfulness; Satan is allowed to test him again – this time with physical pain.  Job’s eyes are gouged out and he is castrated by the same men he once sat in judgment of.  But still Job puts his faith in God.  Then his friends turn on him – he has lost all, his family, his wealth, his health and his friends, but he will not curse the Lord.

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Job does complain, he demands to know why this is happening.  And God ultimately appears to him, not so much out of love but because he is tired of the whining.  God doesn't answer Job's questions, he merely states that man cannot question such a being.  Ultimately God restores wealth, health, a large extended family and long life to Job.

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The moral of the Bible story is that sometimes bad things happen to good people and we cannot fully understand why, but Job is a long way to get there.  We know that Job suffered but did not forsake God.  However, in seeing the whole thing acted out – well, it is a little disconcerting.  What about the children who were driven to incest and murder for no reason but to test the father?  What about the wife, who renounced God after this happened to her family?

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And all this pain and suffering for a celestial bet?  I had to go back to my Bible to check this, and sure enough it is right there (Job 1:11).  Job is excellently acted, well put together and nicely paced (directed by Benjamin H. Kamine) but you don’t leave the theater all bright and cheery.

Job

Playwright: Thomas Bradshaw

Director: Benjamin H. Kamine

Cast: The Bats (including Sean McIntyre, Jennifer Tsay, Cleo Gray, Ugo Chukwu, Stephen Stout, Grant Harrison and Erik Folks)

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The Innocence Charms of The Wundelsteipen

The second of The Flea’s trio of new plays is The Wundelsteipen, by Nick Jones.  The full title is actually The Wundelsteipen (and Other Difficult Roles For Young People) and refers to setup for the show.  The piece is a number of short plays, as performed by young people at acting summer camp.  It is a device that allows any number of inappropriate choices to be made, and they all seem to work.  Having “young people” create these characters brings them to life with less self-conciseness than an “adult” would bring.  An adult couldn’t very well come into a story about why God would bring a baby to Heaven, and treat it as a comedy.  And, having The Bats (the Flea’s resident players) play “children” allows the audience to laugh the actors in a way that we could not, if they were actually youngsters.

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The seven mini-plays range from pitch perfect (and entirely inappropriate) to just okay, but the actors to a great job with all of them.

Briana Pozner (the Wundelsteipen herself) and Alex Herrald

My favorite of the various plays, in both writing and acting, was Alex Herrald and Tommy Crawford in The Wundelsteipen.  In this piece two brothers, hip deep in puberty and internet porn, make a wish and are rewarded with a visit from the sex fairy.  But the sex-fairy has changed a lot in an age where Playboy magazine is quaint and would hardly be rated PG-13.  Briana Pozner is a fairy, who’s payment for wishes has changed with the times.  It is inappropriate on a million levels, and hilarious.

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Tommy Crawford (standing) and
Dominic Spillane (Caligula - in repose)

Tommy Crawford played a slave opposite Dominic Spillane as Caligula in Caligula In The Morning.  It was all about the trials and tribulations of trying to wake up an Emperor that just doesn’t want to get out of bed.  It is an aspect of Caligula that only a young person would be fascinated by.  It was great.

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The direction, by Tom Costello, kept the cast and audience in the moment excellently.  The show never grew past the idea of a bunch of young people putting this together, and it wouldn’t have worked if it did.

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All of the players participated in the story Everybaby – the story of a young baby summoned by God to Heaven to atone for his sins.  The child (played with wide eyed innocence by Donaldo Prescod) doesn’t understand the idea of original sin, or why he can’t get his playmates to go with him.  Everybaby is a perfect example of a story that reads differently when played by children, rather than adults -  where someone might have really lost a child.

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Not all the pieces worked for me.  College Romance and Salome both seemed like SNL sketches that went on too long.  But the others were very good.  The Wundelsteipen … was a very funny time at the Flea.

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The Wundelsteipen (and Other Difficult Roles for Young People) @ The Flea Theater

Playwright: Nick Jones

Director: Tom Costello

Cast: Maren Langdon, Donaldo Prescod, Dominic Spillane, Tommy Crawford, Hannah Corrigan, Eric Folks, Alex Herrald, Briana Pozner

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