BY ANNE COLEMAN

In print | Published October 1, 2009

Is it possible for a play written in Germany in 1778 about Jerusalem in 1192 to be worth watching in Philadelphia in 2009? The People’s Light and Theatre Company is betting on it, kicking off their 35th season with Gotthold Lessing’s “Nathan the Wise,” in a translation by Edward Kemp, artistic director of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art or RADA, in London. It is a reasonable gamble for them to make since the issue that troubled Lessing, religious intolerance, is no less worrisome today than it was 800 years ago.

A best-case scenario glimpse of nine people whose lives collide in Jerusalem following the third crusade, “Nathan the Wise” attempts to undercut the foundations of religious prejudice and animosity. In actuality, it is a pleasant play about kind people who do virtuous things in a world that is (supposedly) full of hatred and prejudice. Gotthold invites us to watch as the Jewish merchant Nathan wins over a Knight Templar and the great Sultan Saladin with words alone. In Nathan’s Jerusalem, the use of logic is sufficient to win unswerving loyalty and friendship from those who ought to be his enemies.

The play is, in a word, utopian. Director Abigail Adams and her cast recognize this and toe the line between an ideal world and the world of fairytales. On the whole, Adams has done a remarkable job, staging “Nathan” with sincerity beyond reproach. With the exception of the final scene (which I do not think anyone other than a revisionist editor with a machete could make less sentimental), her directing is only visible when it is coaxing the lazy dialogue forward.

At the helm of the cast is Oscar-nominated David Strathairn (a nominee for his portrayal of Edward R. Murrow in 2005’s “Good Night and Good Luck”), playing Nathan adroitly and lovingly. Brian Anthony Wilson as Al-Hafi, the dervish, and Saige Thompson as Nathan’s daughter Rachel give similarly tender and thoughtful performances, but it is the fiery performance of People’s Light newcomer Luigi Sottile as The Templar which keeps the audience invested.

Sottile’s Templar is just as impetuous and emotional as he ought to be, but Sottile’s real triumph is not in living up to the requirements of the role. Rather, he surpasses them, demonstrating the rare ability to naturalistically shift between rage and a variety of categorically different emotions. It is all too common for actors playing ‘angry’ or ‘irritable’ characters to get caught in that one dimension. Sottile vocally and physically holds his own in those moments, but it is always clear that there is more to his Templar than the rashness of youth, and he handles the moments of comedy just as capably as he does those of fury.

The other standout is Graham Smith as The Lay Brother. In a minor and underwritten role, Smith steals every scene, but not by playing to the audience or by undermining his fellow actors. Smith’s Lay Brother is simply enchanting. It’s difficult not to smile when he is on stage, even when he is delivering unwelcome information, because his manner is so finely tuned to the role and is altogether pleasing.

What the play lacks, however, is a meaningful contribution to the dialogue on religious intolerance. To distill the message of the play down to a statement on religious intolerance is to eliminate all of the things that justify it as a theatrical production. The elements of the religious politics are all there, with Peter DeLaurier’s unflinching performance as The Patriarch and Strathairn’s beautiful delivery of the parable of the three rings, but to take away only those elements of the play is to ignore 90 percent of the production. Lessing’s religious message is simple, something along the lines of ‘religious intolerance makes no sense’ and ‘we’re all one big family in God’s eyes.’ His play, on the other hand, has a dénouement comparable in complexity and implausibility to those of Shakespeare’s late romances, “A Winter’s Tale,” “Cymbeline” and “Pericles.”

If you think about the play instead as a story of friendship and about “good people doing good things,” as the cast said, in a talkback following the Sept. 24 performance, it is a success. Lessing’s play, under Adams’ direction, is a romantic and genuine vote of confidence in the human spirit and the ability of mankind to heal itself.

« RETURN TO LIVING & ARTS

« PREV ARTICLE | NEXT ARTICLE »