Where would plays go if they died? I could imagine “A Streetcar Named Desire” frolicking with “Mother Courage” in the Elysian fields, while David Mamet’s recent works would most likely be getting toasty in the underworld.
But what about those that weren’t good enough for heaven, but not bad enough to deserve hell? If there is a purgatory for them, that’s surely where Tom Dulack’s “Paradise Lost” will reside.
The play is inspired by John Milton’s epic poem imagining a history before history, with God and his angels waging a battle for heaven and, eventually, for the souls of Adam and Eve. But unlike Milton’s work, this is neither epic nor particularly poetic.
We all know how the story went: Eve couldn’t resist the forbidden fruit, Adam followed her lead, and humanity ended up destined to feel shame and die. But Milton evoked complex inner worlds for his characters. “The mind is its own place,” he wrote, “and in itself, can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heav’n.”
In the Fellowship for Performing Arts production at Theater Row, Dulack’s paradise is reduced to pure plot.
Banished from heaven, Lucifer (David Andrew Macdonald, with the gravitas of George C. Scott) and Beelzebub (Lou Liberatore, like a villainous Disney sidekick) scheme over how to ruin God’s plans.
The delicious opening scene is made all the better when Alison Fraser’s Sin arrives, dressed as Lady Gaga on her way to prom. (Sydney Maresca did the imaginative costumes, which include a skirt made of hanging intestines for Sin.)
The idea that villains have all the fun comes to life when Adam (Robbie Simpson) and Eve (Marina Shay) show up, to name creatures, talk about angels and praise creation. They play the first man and woman as wide-eyed blank canvases — childlike, but without the playfulness.
They mostly share scenes with the archangel Gabriel (Mel Johnson Jr.) who reveals plot points we know by heart, making for quite a laborious experience. Scenes in Eden feel more lifeless than joyful in this production by a company dedicated to “producing theater from a Christian worldview to engage a diverse audience.”
It’s in the especially dull moments that the eye wanders to Harry Feiner’s detailed set design, his Botticelli trees in beautiful contrast with John Narun’s rich projections. Nighttime scenes, where we watch Adam and Eve sleep, are given depth by Phil Monat’s lighting, which through its soft hues suggests divine protection.
The director, Michael Parva, doesn’t stray from the flat tone of the script, giving “Paradise Lost” the feel of a school production that students were forced to attend.
Paradise Lost
Through March 1 at Theater Row, Manhattan; 212-239-6200, fpatheatre.com. Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes.
Source: Theater - nytimes.com
