Cult Classic

InterAct's Silverhill harks back to an obscure but meaningful bit of American history.

by Mark Cofta

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Published: Nov 3, 2010

Philly playwright Thomas Gibbons' eighth premiére with InterAct Theatre Co. harks back to an obscure bit of American history in a drama that's surprisingly meaningful today.

Silverhill pits sympathetic characters against each other in 1891 upstate New York, where a 247-person commune practices a "doctrine of perfectionism": no police, lawyers, churches or money "on the authority of Scripture" — in other words, Bible-based communism. Nick Embree's handsome set features huge gates — do they lock out the corrupt outside, or imprison Silverhill's citizens?

Christopher Coucill makes leader Alden a fiery prophet, tall and lean with an Old Testament white beard. His anti-property doctrine extends to relationships, promoting a free love that allows him to sexually subjugate lovely young Tirzah (Jessica DalCanton) while wife Kate (Nancy Boykin) fumes.

Inevitably, Silverhill's youth question their leader. Frank (Dan Hodge) and Tirzah are in love, but exclusivity is forbidden; after Frank defiantly buys Tirzah a brooch in the outside world, Alden orders a "criticism session," essentially a verbal stoning. In Alden's perfect community, rebellion is, conveniently, a sin.

Soon, philosophies clash: communism vs. capitalism, monogamy vs. free love, dictatorship vs. democracy, with fascinating modern parallels. A great cast brings the debate to life in personal, intimate, often humorous performances. Tim Moyer as Tirzah's beleaguered father, Pierce Cravens as a wide-eyed new recruit, and Mary Tuomanen as his comfortably polygamous lover struggle through another disputed American doctrine: evolution. Silverhill must change or die.

The lively debate about divinity and human perfection, and ideas about charismatic leaders and the inevitable lure of anything forbidden, resonate powerfully. Silverhill fascinates with its glimpse of pre-1960s American social experiments, but soars through its fresh exploration of eternal — and, thus, contemporary — issues.

Through Nov. 14, $27-$32, The Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., 215-568-8079, interacttheatre.org.

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