Passion Play at the Odyssey Theatre

Wow! I haven’t seen anything like this play EVER! The show was so cleverly written by Tony and two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee Sara Ruhl who shares the hilariously entertaining collision with religion in three different versions of the passion in three different times and places: England 1575, Germany 1934 and South Dakota 1969-present. In each act, town members gather to commemorate the martyrdom of Christ, and the proceedings reflect Ruhl’s trademark blending of philosophical query and light-spirited wit. I laughed aloud a lot! It was not at all what I expected. The theater goer is left to ponder and question notions of faith, grace, forgiveness, biblical roles, all entwined with the writer’s witty and clever metaphors, rhythms, and rhymes.

Not only is the writing genius, but the acting by the entire cast is mesmerizing. The Intermission occurs after Germany where you will need to take a break since you have been sitting for 90 minutes, but the play is so entertaining, time flies by. Although the show with Intermission is almost 3 hours total, I think the play could’ve been somewhat shorter. Considering most of us nowadays are so ADD, I have a hard time even focusing in a 90 minute movie.

The acting is beyond superb. Shannon Holt blew us away as she portrays three very different characters with pomp and realism, even down to the facial expressions. She becomes Queen Elizabeth, Hitler, and President Reagan. Her captivating performance had us on the edge of our seats. The characters even interact with us, feeding us fish (red Swedish fish). Performances by Dorie Barton who play the Virgin Mary are amazing as she takes on so many emotions. I was also captivated by energetic, sexy, bold and brash John Charles Meyer who plays the Carpenter.

The whole cast is top notch starring Tobias Baker, Dorie Barton, Daniel Bess, Bill Brochtrup, Shannon Holt, Dylan Kenin, Christian Leffler, Jason Liska,Beth Mack, John Charles Meyer, John Prosky, Brittany Slattery, and Amanda Troop.

Kicking off the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble’s 45th Anniversary Season in a co-production with Evidence Room, performances began January 25 at the Odyssey Theatre in West L.A. and continue through March 16. The Passion Play is produced by Beth Hogan and Bart DeLorenzo.

“I love plays that are about how theater affects our lives, and about how our lives are, in fact, a kind of theater,” says the Director Bart DeLorenzo. “Sarah has a mad sense of humor, and in this magical play she draws the kind of imaginative connections that only theater can. It runs the gamut – from intimate scenes to crazy pageants to wild surrealism. It’s very funny, but she is exploring some rich dark themes.”

Sarah Ruhl began writing Passion Play while she was studying for her master’s degree at Brown University, under the tutelage of Pulitzer winner and renowned writing teacher Paula Vogel. “I started writing this play after re-reading a childhood book which includes an account of Oberammergau in the early 1900s,” Ruhl writes in an introductory note. “In this old fashioned narrative, the man who played Christ was actually so holy as to have become His living embodiment. The woman who played Mary was, in real life, just as pure as the Virgin. I started thinking, how would it shape or misshape a life to play a biblical role year after year? How are we scripted? Where is the line between authentic identity and performance? And is there, in fact, such a line?

Poetic and quirky, smart and profound, Passion Play was the winner of the Kentucky Center Fourth Forum Freedom Award and was named one of the “Ten Best Plays of 2008” by The New Yorker.

Though Sarah Ruhl originally intended to be a poet, she fell in love with playwriting after studying with Vogel at Brown. Many of her plays mix the mundane with the mythical and supernatural, exploring the delicate line between life and death. She is known for her retellings and adaptations of classic stories and for bringing a clear feminist voice to the contemporary stage. Her other plays includeIn the Next Room or The Vibrator Play (Glickman Prize, 2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist); The Clean House (Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist), Demeter in the City (nominated for nine NAACP awards); Eurydice; Dead Man’s Cell Phone; Melancholy Play; Orlando; a new version of Chekhov’s Three Sisters; and Stage Kiss which is slated to receive its New York premiere at Playwright’s Horizons this March. Her plays have premiered at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway, and have been produced off-Broadway at Lincoln Center Theater, Playwrights Horizons and Second Stage. Regionally they’ve been seen at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Cornerstone Theater Company, Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth, Cincinnati Playhouse and the Piven Theatre Workshop in Chicago, as well as being produced at many other theaters across the country and around the world.

Bart DeLorenzo is the artistic director of the Evidence Room. At the Odyssey, he has directed Annapurna, Ivanov, Margo Veil andThe Receptionist (Evidence Room co-productions), as well as Day Drinkers and A Number. Recent work: Fast Company at South Coast Rep, The Night Watcher at Studio Theatre, Coney Island Christmas at the Geffen Playhouse, Cymbeline at A Noise Within,Legacy of Light at the Cleveland Playhouse, King Lear with the Antaeus Company, and The Projectionist at the Kirk Douglas. Also:Doctor Cerberus, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, and Shipwrecked! An Entertainment at South Coast Rep; Voice Lessons at the Zephyr; andbobrauschenbergamerica with TheSpyAnts. He is on the faculty at Calarts. He has received six LA Weekly Awards, three BackstageGarlands, three Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, and he is the 2012 recipient of TCG’s Alan Schneider Director Award. Upcoming: Death of the Author at the Geffen, and a remounting of the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble/Evidence Room production ofAnnapurna by the New Group in New York City.

Set design for Passion Play is by Frederica Nascimento, lighting design is by Michael Gend, original music and sound design is by John Ballinger, and costume design is by Raquel Barreto.

Catch this thought provoking play before it’s too late.

WHEN:

Jan. 25 – March 16

Wednesdays at 8 p.m.: Feb. 19 and March 5 ONLY

Thursdays at 8 p.m.: Feb. 13, Feb. 27 and March 13 ONLY

Fridays at 8 p.m.: Jan. 31; Feb. 7, 14, 21, 28; March 7, 14

Saturdays at 8 p.m.: Jan. 25 (Opening Night); Feb. 1, 8, 15, 22; March 1, 8, 15

Sundays at 2 p.m.: Feb. 2, 9, 16, 23; March 2, 9, 16 (no 2 p.m. matinee on Jan. 26)

Sundays at 5 p.m.: Jan. 26 ONLY

WHERE:

Odyssey Theatre

2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd.