Reviews  

Horizon

David Barlow, Rinde Eckert, and Howard Swain in Horizon (© Carol Rosegg)

From Rinde Eckert, the man who brought us the stunning And God Created Great Whales in 2001, comes Horizon, now at New York Theatre Workshop. This play enraptures with its combination of fierce intellectual rigor and sensational stagecraft. Indeed, Horizon is so smart, so original, and so rich in its flow of ideas that it can easily overwhelm anyone who might wander into the theater thinking that a work with only three actors on a seemingly simple set (designed by Alexander V. Nichols) is just a little piece of theater.

The intermissionless 90-minute work takes place between the times the sun falls below the horizon at night and then rises again in the morning. During this long night, Reinhart Poole (Eckert) prepares for his last lecture at the seminary from which he has been fired for expressing the truth as he sees it.

During this night, he will be visited by memories of his mother, father, and brother; he will dabble with a play he has been writing; and he will contemplate in the mixture of all of this, the efficacy of God, religion, and man. The narrative is neither traditional nor linear, but the cumulative effect -- as directed with unerring distinction by David Schweizer -- is theatrically thrilling and intellectually triumphant.

We see Poole as a teacher, writing on a series of chalkboards behind his desk. He challenges his students to define words like ethics and faith. We see his enthusiasm and the way he builds on ideas. And then he does the same thing in his play within the play. That story begins as an allegory about a church that has to be torn down in order to provide the bricks to build another church. We meet the two masons (the multi-talented pair of David Barlow and Howard Swain) who are doing the work. They are Poole's creations, who comically - and meaningfully - find their circumstances constantly changing.

For example, they discover they're in a play, which pleases one of them immensely because then his fate will be pre-determined and he won't have to keep making his up his lines. However, they are thrown a curve when they discover that their playwright is a minister and an amateur playwright. Hearing this news they despair -- until they consider that the playwright might turn his story into a novel. Now they're impressed and even sing a song about it! Indeed, there is a lot of singing in this play, all written by Eckert and all of it exceptional, thanks in part to the crisp sound design by Gregory T. Kuhn.

In the course of this metaphysical night, we get a glimpse of the Devil, who guards the way to God. We're also given a brand new view of martyrdom, whether it is the hemlock drunk by Socrates or the crucifix carried by Christ. Most importantly, we are taught, in illuminating theatrical terms, the importance of "doubt" versus the danger of blind faith.

Is Horizon a Christian play? No. Is it a religious play? No. It is, however a deeply spiritual play. But it is, above all, a riveting piece of theater, and a bold and beautiful choice for New York Theatre Workshop.

 

Your Email Address:  *
Your Friend's Email Address:  *
   optional
   optional
   optional
   optional
Your Zip Code:
Subject:
Message: I recommend this article on TheaterMania.com. And, while you're there, you can read news, reviews, features and more, covering theater everywhere!

--There are no comments posted yet.