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The Savannah Disputation - Audience Reviews (Submit your own review)
08/26/2009
Thank God for this delightful little show!!! The writing is quick-witted, insightful and employs surprising theological debate in an engaging, entertaining and intelligent way. After the show, I realized I had enjoyed great big spontaneous belly laughs for the first time this week! The actors are terrific in every role -- Thank you for bringing this playwright's voice to the stage and giving us the gift of this show. It's terrific!
08/26/2009
I went to The Savannah Disputation last night.
What a wonderful show! It was extremely well done and the acting and timing was fantastic. Very thought provoking, as well, as I am still mulling over some of the themes this morning. My compliments to you and your cast for a job extremely well done.
I loved the whole concept of the show and the themes it brought up. I thought the balance of the characters was fantastic and they all played their parts to perfection. Being somewhat of a religiously curious intellectual, I was particularly interested in the Father Murphy character and his understanding of biblical teaching versus the historical reality of the writing of the Bible (in all of its incarnations).
I just felt that many of the conflicts were not adequately dealt with and was somewhat unsatisfied with the “amicable” parting of the ways of the various characters without any real addressing of their concerns.
As for the themes, I wish there had been more dialog on the “audacity” of proselytizing. Father Murphy chastises Melissa for meddling with someone’s soul when she has no idea what she is talking about. The whole concept of religion should be between the individual and God. The difference between a missionary and a spiritual leader is that the missionary attempts to coerce the individual to make a commitment based upon the missionary’s interpretation of what is right and true while the spiritual leader attempts to lead the individual to their own conclusion. Additionally, the individual chooses to follow the spiritual leader while the missionary pursues the individual – which is a totally different dynamic. Lastly, the spiritual leader is often schooled in the imperfections of their teachings and their own fallibility and thus only tries to encourage the individual, while the missionary is schooled in the absolute rightness of their teachings and the necessity to forcibly convert the individual. I wish the playwright had devoted more time to this than merely a few lines of admonishment towards the end.
I was particularly touched by the monologue by Mary on the unfairness of having to “go to hell” due to her chemical imperfections that were given to her by God in the first place. I’ve often had the same thoughts (although not of Hell, as Jews don’t believe in such a concept). This was demonstrated to me most dramatically in the story of Exodus, where God commands Moses to go to Pharaoh to demand that he let the Jews go but God then “hardens Pharaoh’s heart” and makes him refuse. God then metes out punishment on Pharaoh and the Egyptians for what, essentially, God had created. Very unfair. However, I’ve always believed that the point was to transcend your physical condition to attain Heaven, nirvana, enlightenment, whatever. I was disappointed to not see Father Murphy answer Mary’s concerns with such an answer, rather than almost avoiding the subject – short of “just believe in the teachings and you will be saved”.
Lastly, the whole concept of not understanding your own religion (as evidenced by Mary and Margaret’s disbelief on the act of resurrection of the body and the failure to consider what was actually being said in the profession of faith) was very resonant for me. When I was a teen, I went to Israel for 7 weeks and witnessed a people who actually LIVE their religion. When I returned to the US, I was disgusted by American Jewry (at least in my own Reform temple), as so many had no real faith and did not even understand the words they were saying during prayers. In fact, it turned me away from God and religion for over 15 years (much to the devastation of my parents). It was only after the death of my daughter that I came back to religion, God, and the Jewish people. But the whole concept of merely “going through the motions” while not considering the meaning of the words and rituals, nor their implications for leading a spiritual life, still resonates, as so many treat religious observance this way. Father Murphy’s scolding of Margaret at the end and his attempt to impress the import of this on Mary was wonderful, but, again, I wish the playwright had devoted just a bit more to this so that the point wouldn’t be lost on the audience.
Must see!!!
08/23/2009
Hilarious and thought provoking! Mary Katherine and crew did such an amazing job - it was all so believable. I was re-living my JW childhood....not a good thing - but amusing and entertaining nonetheless.
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