Keeping the Faith?
Prolific playwright questions faith, no strings attached
; "GAUZE IN EFFECT: Chris Fluck and Amanda Schoonover share a moment of <i>Grace</i>, Luna Theater's latest.")
GAUZE IN EFFECT: Chris Fluck and Amanda Schoonover share a moment of Grace, Luna Theater's latest. (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION) |
When the subject is religion, what we're usually really talking about is politics, a governing body's relationship with its members. While Craig Wright (a prolific American playwright, and a writer for Six Feet Under) references religion often in Grace, this fascinating play — receiving a powerful area première by Luna Theater Co. — actually concerns questions of faith.
This subject is much more personal and involving, especially explored through mousy young bride Sara in a brilliant performance by Amanda Schoonover. She and Steve (intensely fervent Chris Faith) come to Florida from Minnesota to launch a chain of gospel-themed hotels ("Where would Jesus stay?"). Steve invests faith in church-approved get-rich-quick schemes — he's a "prayer warrior" counting on an unseen Swiss investor — while Sara trusts in the promise of children.
Next door, NASA scientist Sam (Chris Fluck) recovers from a devastating car accident in which his fiancée died. Now he's losing her again as his camera's memory cards are fading away. Underneath our chuckles about his tech-support woes, one of many serious questions emerges: What is reality when memory is reduced to vanishing pixels?
Like incompatible operating systems, different beliefs soon clash. Exterminator Karl (Arnold Kendall) offers another, as an atheist scarred by horrible experiences in World War II Germany. Grace twists these four tortured souls' struggles into a story that works as a psychological thriller — who will snap first? — but also invites deeper contemplation. Wright (a born-Jewish born-again Christian with a Master of Divinity degree) explores not name-brand religions, but the personal codes that rule our decisions, like the belief (or lack thereof) that we deserve to be loved.
Directed by Gregory Scott Campbell, Grace challenges us to ponder the faith — not only in God but in science, in money, in memory, in love, even in happy endings.
Grace Through Feb. 17, Luna Theater Co., Walnut Street Theatre Studio 5, 825 Walnut St., 215-704-0033, lunatheater.org.
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