Dialogue
Between a Priest and A Dying Man, by Marquis de Sade
at La Mama until March 1, 1998
Reviewed by Kate Herbert around Feb 17 1998
The work of
the Marquis de Sade is generally read rather than performed, although, perhaps
in privacy of some homes - who knows?
His
"Dialogue Between a Priest and a Dying Man", directed by David
Meadows who also plays the dying man, is a Socratic dialogue between a
hedonistic, disease-riddled man and an insubstantial priest (Kiran D'Costa) who
wishes to save him from hell-fire.
The design
is simply white cloth decking wall and table, piles of neatly folded clothing
and a symbolically cruciform pile of white shoeboxes and the transferring of
clothing to boxes is the sum of the physical action.
The text is
thick with theological concepts, philosophical argument and moral dilemmas. It
is a fascinating diatribe. The Man questions the after-life. He calls the
priest's god "superfluous' wonders why one would choose a Christian god as
opposed to any other. He suggests that Jesus was killed because he was a
troublemaker and that humans should shun crime through reason not through fear
of divine retribution.
The
problems arise not in the wonderful density of de Sade's material but in the
performances. As the dying man, Meadows is a large and powerful presence and
there are a couple of distinctive moments when we see his potential, but he
rushes through the text like a juggernaut. It is philosophy on speed. This
relentless pace makes it almost impossible to grasp all the subtleties of the
argument because it leaves no space for reflection.
Having an
outside director might have solved this glitch. The directorial eye may have
dealt with Meadows being in profile for most of the 35 minutes, which
diminishes his strength. The metaphorical filling of the boxes and shrinking of
the crucifix becomes repetitive
The final
image of the naked, dying man was too swift and it would have been riveting to
witness the confused, nearly corrupted priest, lingering over his downfall as
he peeled off his clothing to follow the Man to the six waiting women. The
finish is performed in an unsatisfying rush.
The role of
the listener is a difficult one requiring both intensity and detail but
D'Costa's performance lacks weight and he is swamped by Meadows' gravitas.
Some rapid
changes of staging and slower paced delivery of such a complex text would lift
this show 100 percent. It has potential.
KATE
HERBERT
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