Developed at the Actors Studio in collaboration with the novelist, Bárbara Mujica,
the world premiere of “God’s Gypsy” by Coco Blignaut continues at The Lillian. It seems that for this reviewer, the tragedy of the
Catholic Church has been immediate for quite some time now. Another plug for Judi Dench’s Philomena is appropriate, as
well as Fionnuala Kenny’s Elvis’s Toenail in Toluca Lake. To top that off as I sat down to write
this review, I turned on the TV for company and happened across an episode of
Sally Field as Sister Bertrill in The Flying Nun!
The best thing about
Ms Blignaut’s play is the amazing score composed and executed by the talented
Lili Haydn. For those who have not
heard the story of St. Teresa of Avila, it speaks to the essence of
ecstasy. Ms Haydn’s Entre Act
approaches and reaches the ecstatic, lifting the audience literally to heights seldom
experienced. Though over amped and
with some difficulty with additional recorded playback, Haydn’s violin and
voice, her very presence: long dark hair, eyes closed, contemporary black lace,
ethereal and ephemeral … filled the room with expectation.
 |
| Lily Haydn composer / musician |
Director Joel
Daavid’s set with appropriate lights by Leigh Allen heighten our anticipation. Costumes by Michael Mullen are
professional and expensive. And,
then, Ms Blignaut’s account of the life of Teresa, the Spanish Jew,
begins. Playwright Blignaut has
cast herself as Teresa, the woman who saw Christ and communed with him,
bringing literally hundreds of young women to take the veil in service to their
Lord. In 1525 Spain, Ferdinand and
Isabella began to expel all non-Catholics from the land. As the power of the Spanish Inquisition
exploded, the idea that a woman could speak directly to God was heresy. Not having read Ms Mujica’s novel, it’s
unclear as to how accurate Blignaut’s version of the story might be. Suffice it
to say that it is long.
The hypocrisy of how
Catholic priests may have taken advantage of the faithful is a story that has
continued certainly for the past five hundred years. Father Braulio (Daniel
DeWeldon) has exploited Sister Angelica (Tsulan Cooper) and in the confessional
does so blatantly.
The play is slow
moving, ponderous and seldom well acted (even an actual nun in the row in front
of me nodded off from time to time). With modern colloquialisms, “Wow!” “You have no idea.” dialogue is interlaced
with occasional Spanish, “Gracias,” with no attempt at Spanish accents. Sundry
acting styles (bombastic, sincere, loud, quiet, intense, wooden) made the
evening even longer.
Cantor, Pat Satcher, beautifully intoned a prayer for the dead as Teresa was
laid out in the final scene.
And, so we come full
circle: a literally ecstatic
prologue of violin and voice, an overlong narrative with brutal rapes, torture
and souvenir taking, with gorgeous costumes (the royalty, not the habits) to a
finale of Ms Haydn’s live performance after the curtain call, holding cast as
well as the audience spell bound.
A photo of Bernini’s
exquisite statue of St.Teresa created a century after the life of the nun
graces the program and posters.
Indeed, the sculptor seems to have found in marble what is illusive for
most of us: a divine moment that passes understanding. Would that the evening might have been
played in pantomime with Ms Haydn’s voice and violin the singular testament to
Teresa.
GOD'S GYPSY by Coco Blignaut
The
Lillian Theatre
Opened
Saturday, November 30
Plays
Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m
Sunday
at 6 p.m. through January 12
(dark December 26-29).
(dark December 26-29).
Tickets
$30
Call
(866) 811-4111 or go to www.godsgypsy.com.
The
Lillian Theatre
1076
Lillian Way
Hollywood,
CA (1½ blocks west of Vine).
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