So Nice So Smart

REVIEW: Nathan the Wise

by Mark Cofta

"Everything is made better with a gift," says charming Nathan the Wise, coining a motto not only for this rare production of Gotthold Lessing's 1779 play, but for People's Light & Theatre Co.'s 35-year history.

Like the Malvern theater's illustrious record, Nathan the Wise — translated into modern vernacular by Edward Kemp — isn't showy or shocking, but smart and warmhearted. The play's discussions of religion, politics and family might test some theatergoers' patience — as will its tidy coincidences, which a person behind me called "Shakespearean" afterward, but not as a compliment.

Nathan (David Strathairn, in a masterfully restrained performance) returns to his Jerusalem home in 1192 to learn that adopted daughter Rachel (Saige Thompson) was saved from a fire by a fiery Templar knight (Luigi Sottile). Their mutual attraction is complicated by the knight's hatred of Jews like Nathan; he's only in Jerusalem because Muslim leader Saladin (Stephen Novelli) spared his life after defeating his forces. This intersection of Jews, Muslims and Christians provokes discussions reminiscent of Bernard Shaw: intelligent, witty adversaries debate their differences, discover their similarities and forge friendships through respectful discourse.

Genuine, sparkling performances from all (including Roslyn Ruff as Saladin's sister, Graham Smith as a Lay Brother with a secret, Kathryn Petersen as Rachel's guardian, Brian Anthony Wilson as a beleaguered court accountant managing deficits — are you sure this wasn't written this year? — and Peter DeLaurier as a self-righteous Catholic) keep the emotional stakes balanced. Wilson Chin's solid yet worn stone set captures timeless Jerusalem's romance and reality, and Marla Jurglanis' costumes slyly show the similarities between cultures.

"What we are and the roles we are compelled to play," says Nathan, "are often not the same." Nathan the Wise explains this and much more, for all willing to listen.

Through Oct. 11, $31-$48, People's Light &Theatre Co., 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, 610-644-300, peopleslight.org