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![](3D"MercuryReview_files/image022.jpg") =
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Charged u=
p.
Mick Jones, left, plays Haynes, who is hiding out with an old friend
and must convince his friend’s wife, Emma, played by Rhiannon
McCullough, to stay out of his business in Sam Shepard’s new =
play
'The God of Hell.' CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
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With Sam as my shepherd
THEATER
REVIEW
'THE GOD O=
F HELL'
By Sam She=
pard
Directed b=
y Dorisa
Boggs
Through 7-=
8
Roger Will=
iams
University Barn Summer Playhouse, One Old Ferry Road, Bristol<=
/span>
Performanc=
es
Fri.-Sun, 8 p.m.
$10 genera=
l, $5
students
254-3666
BY DAVE CH=
RISTNER
Sam Shepar=
d's,
"The God of Hell," now playing at Roger Williams University
Barn Summer Playhouse might best be described as the playwright's Ita=
lian
salute to the politics of the Bush White House. And it is that - on t=
he
surface.
But upon c=
lose
examination, one could easily conclude that Shepard is as well sendin=
g a
searing indictment to all the citizens of the republic who enjoy the =
many
fruits of a democracy without having to labor for its privileges or f=
ight
for its preservation. Indeed, an obedient, ill-informed electorate is=
not
only undeserving of such freedom but is also in great danger of falli=
ng
prey to the rhetoric spewing from the burning bush.
Such is th=
e case
for Frank (Jay Miscia) and Emma (Rhiannon McCullough) whose pastoral
existence on a Wisconsin dairy farm
seems about as far removed from Washington Beltway politics as you can
get. Here in the land of milk and honey, Frank fusses over his herd of
Holstein heifers like the children he and Emma never had while Emma
dedicates her time to the cultivation of her house plants; never mind=
that
as a consequence of our invasion of Iraq (ancient Mesopotamia), purpo=
rted
location of the Garden of Eden, the "Cradle of Civilization"=
; is
getting blown all to hell by a lethal mix of Tomahawk missiles sent by
God and suicide bombers courtesy of Mohammed.
In this pl=
ay,
Shepard blatantly mixes religion and politics; such is the prerogativ=
e if
not the sacred duty of a playwright. However, when an American Presid=
ent
claims that God is leading his Crusade, things tend to get a little
touchy on the constitutional homefront. Against the backdrop of a war
"over there" (which is where they always are), Shepard brin=
gs
the politics of war to the heartland and examines a government run am=
ok
with the blessing of the people.
Frank and =
Emma's
world is shaken to the core with the arrival of Haynes (Mick Jones), =
an
old friend of Frank's who had mysteriously disappeared years before.
Haynes is on the lam, having escaped from some clandestine government
project involving plutonium. The project has left Haynes a virtual hu=
man
sparkplug; he evokes a charge of electricity when he makes physical
contact with another human being. Haynes finds temporary refuge in the
farmhouse basement and tries to save Frank and Emma from the 21st cen=
tury
with horror stories of personal woes suffered at the hands of a fasci=
st
government - ours.
Things get=
worse,
much worse with the arrival of a government agent named Welch (Robin
Stone); Welch enters peddling stars-and-stripes coated sugar cookies =
(as
if we should all be cut from the same mold); Shepard's use of the name
"Welch" is no accident. Robert Welch, Jr. along with 11
disciples founded the ultra conservative John Birch Society (JBS) in =
1958
with a mission to achieve: "Less Government, More Responsibility,
and - With God's Help - a Better World." The JBS national
headquarters is in Apple=
ton,
Wis.
Director D=
orisa
Boggs has a fine feel for Shepard's dark humor and brings the
not-so-bizarre events on a Wisconsin dairy farm home to Bristol through chillingly realis=
tic
performances by her fine cast. Miscia's portrayal of Frank's
transformation from a simple dairy farmer to a government android who
forfeits his future (and ours) by selling off his breeding stock to W=
elch
is frightening.
McCullough=
's Emma,
the only sane voice in the play, tragically realizes too late that she
isn't safe, not even down on the farm, and loses everything, including
her mind to the fascist government agent. Stone's measured performanc=
e as
Welch is appallingly realistic, a guy you see in one way or another
everyday on the evening news labeling critics of the administration as
traitors or singing the praises of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.
Jones' portrayal of Haynes is edgy, as it should be for a character on
the brink of insanity. When Haynes and Frank go marching off into the
cold Wisconsin night to fulfill the
country's destiny - manifest or not - you can't help but conjure up
images of Hitler's goose-stepping troops heading into the abyss of Wo=
rld
War II.
I've always
wondered how in the world Hitler got the German people to buy into his
scheme for world domination. In "The God of Hell," Shepard
shows us how, and, whatever your politics, you shouldn't miss this gr=
eat
show. With the electorate gone mad or asleep at the wheel, we have on=
ly
visionary artists to fall back on.
Dave Ch=
ristner
is a Newport County playwright whose comedy, "Red Hot Mamas,&quo=
t;
will be produced in Michigan and <=
st1:State
w:st=3D"on">Oklahoma n=
ext
season.
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