Paradise Lost now at the Theater Row Theaters, by the
Fellowship for Performing Arts (FPA) is a piece “Inspired by John Milton”.
That would be John Milton’s epic 17th century poem about the Angelic
Civil War which pitched Lucifer and his cohort against God and, on a parallel
track, the story of Adam and Eve in Eden.
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| David Andrew Macdonald and Lou Libertore pondor the outcome of the Angelic Civil War |
It is tricky play to try to review from an independent
viewpoint. To quote from FPA themselves, “FPA’s objective is to engage and
entertain its patrons by telling stories from a Christian Worldview that have
the power to capture the imagination of a diverse audience.” That is a lot to
live up to, and Paradise Lost does an excellent job of trying to pull the
various pieces together. It is presented in current English, albeit
occasionally falling into free verse, with modern touches sprinkled throughout
in visual sight gags and throwaway bits. But, it still requires a buy-in to the
idea of a Miltonian version of hell: lake of fire, mutinous Angels and a loving
but mute God.
Lucifer (a magnetic David Andrew Macdonald) commands the
stage, whether in rallying the fallen Angelic troops with soaring rhetoric or gently
tempting Eve. His cohort includes the fallen Angels Beelzebub (comic relief by
Lou Liberatore) and his wife / daughter Sin (Alison Fraser as a wizened sex
bomb). Sin was created, fully formed, by jumping out of Lucifer’s forehead whereupon
then immediately copulated and had a child, Death - which seems much more old Greek than old English to me.
Meanwhile, back in the victor’s camp, God has created a new experiment
called Man and a place for him to live, the Garden. There we are first
introduced to Eve, newly formed and coming to understanding with the world.
Marine Shay plays Eve as a fun, questioning and rounded person. Adam, dutifully
played by Robbie Simpson, is less questioning and more grateful of God’s
bounty. But, then God never talks to Eve, but did talk with Adam.
Paradise Lost actually spends a lot of time trying to
understand Eve and her motivation. She is visited by Lucifer and treated by him as an independent
person. She is visited by Gabriel (Mel Johnson Jr.) where she is again chastised not
to eat of the Tree of Knowledge, without any reason. Now both Adam and Gabriel have told her not to
or it will displease God, but God never speaks to her. On the other hand, Lucifer, also an Angel,
tells her to eat of the fruit and fulfill the destiny God has created for her.
Of
course, we know the ending. Woman eats the apple and condemns all
mankind to pain, guilt and death because, women - am I right?
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| Adam and Eve (Robbie Simpson and Marina Shay) in love |
The playwright Tom Dulack
does a good job of presenting this story. Since I haven’t read John Milton’s 10
volume epic poem, I am not positive of how well he captured the spirit of the
piece, but I thought it was well written. Directed by Michael Parva, the story
moves along quickly enough, but I found myself frustrated by the story.
The playwright has given Eve more of a story and motivation,
but now she is just manipulated by man and Angels. She isn’t worthy of being
spoken to by God, but she is somehow responsible for the downfall of all of
mankind.
Paradise Lost
Playwright:Tom Dulack | Director: Michael Parva | Cast: David Andrew Macdonald, Lou Liberatore, Alison Fraser, Marina Shay, Robbie Simpson, Mel Johnson Jr.
