British 1642 Civil War Play Implodes
At the same time that the fervor of the Protestant Reformation was gripping England in the 1640s, so was a Civil War to determine how much democracy the country could withstand. Factions supporting and opposing the King, Charles I, argued and debated and finally, in 1642, an armed struggle broke out that brought about political turmoil for twenty years and cost the King his head.
A revival of Caryl Churchill’s play about the two titanic events, Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, opened last night at the New York Theatre Workshop, 79 E. 4thStreet, in New York. It is full of shouts, threats, denunciations and promises for future glory in Great Britain. Unfortunately, it fizzles. It is a tiresome, flat, tedious, chaotic and uninteresting play full of hollow characters that run about the stage for nearly three hours and accomplish very little.
The theater does provide audience members with a vague description of the history in the play and the reformation, but you do not learn much history at all, just a lot of vague references to “the church” and “the war.” For all the description that Churchill gives of the conflict, it might have been the Gulf War of 1991.
Worst of all, director Rachel Chavkin dresses up fabled Oliver Cromwell, a member of Parliament, military leader and the mighty Lord Protector of England from 1653 until his death in 1658, as a little old lady in a nightgown with a soft, white bonnet on her head. Cromwell must be turning over in his grave.
The play starts off in darkness and then people begin arguing about the Reformation. They decide that one of the tenets of the religious movement, that we can all talk to God and for God, and that he is everywhere, is true and they take turns being God (now God must be turning over in his grave). The highlight of the play for me was when they decide that the apple one is about to devour is God, too (why not banana, or pear, or a bunch of grapes from ShopRite?).
The first act is almost all arguing about religion without any point at all. Then, all of a sudden, for absolutely no reason, we are in the Putney Debates of 1647 to determine what kind of government England should have. Who represents the people? Do you have liberty if you have no property, or property without liberty? The debates were very confusing and so is the acting in them.
Then we are off to Act II and, whoa, we are now in modern times and many of the men and women in the play are wearing black leather jackets. I was waiting for the Hells’ Angels guys on their Harley motorcycles to roar on to the stage.
The actors on stage do a fine job, even though all go a bit overboard. They work as an ensemble. They are Vinie Burrows, Rob Campbell, Matthew Jeffers, Mikeah Ernest Jennings, Gregg Mozgala, and Evelyn Spahr. The director, Chavkin, tries to hold a very unwieldy drama together, like a cowboy would try to ride a bucking bronco.
One thing that really bothered me were the groups of dissenters in the play – the Levellers, Diggers and Ranters. Their names shocked me. They sound like rock music groups (then I found out, OMG, there actually is a British rock band named the Levellers, after the political group).
The main problem with the play is that there is simply no story, no drama at all. It has no beginning, middle or end and the characterizations are pretty weak. Where are all these people going? Where is England going? There are a thousand interesting stories and titanic characters in this bit of British history, but we don’t get any of them here.
Someone should level these levellers.
PRODUCTION: The play is produced by the New York Theatre Workshop. Scenic design: Riccardo Hernandez, Costumes: Toni=Leslie James, Lighting: Isabella Byrd, Sound: Mikaal Suliam. The play is directed by Rachel Chavkin.It runs through June 3.