Set in a megachurch, UNCW's production of play 'The Christians' confronts mystery of faith
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Welcome to your friendly neighborhood megachurch. Behold, our polished walnut and dry-stack stone work, strategically placed stained glass, twin jumbotrons, ginormous choir and expertly deployed lighting system that serve only to bring you closer to our truth.
Such is the impression on entering the Mainstage Theater for the University of North Carolina Wilmington's production of Lucas Hnath's "The Christians." (The one-act play runs through Sunday, Nov. 21.)
Hnath brings to bear first-person knowledge of this world in a way that's as clear-eyed and compassionate as it is critical. Likewise, UNCW Theatre faculty member Christopher Marino's assiduous direction mines the play's emotion and honors the sincerity of the questions and resulting conflicts that escalate throughout the play.
The story, in brief: Pastor Paul (Davis Wood) has, with tremendous patience and help, built a church community from a simple storefront into a corporation, as Elder Jay (Jamie Lane) puts it. After announcing that the mortgage has been paid in full, Paul, citing a story told at a pastors' conference, decides to move his congregation in a new direction, questioning an article of faith that divides him from his associate pastor, Joshua (Khori Talley), and even his wife, Elizabeth (Addison Hamlet).
Davis's performance as Paul is remarkable, showing us a man who, despite an expressed powerful urge to communicate, stumbles, finding himself out of touch and tone-deaf, veering from benign arrogance to near despair over the fate of his church and his 20-year marriage. His nuanced performance is matched by Hamlet's, whose serene Elizabeth comes to life with her own truth bombs. One is left wishing for a sequel to the play with Hamlet's Elizabeth as the main character.
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Talley's believable Joshua is like unto the Old Testament leader who succeeds Moses —he is a passionate defender of the faith, confronting Paul even as the pastor's sermon echoes through the church. Lane's Elder Jay brings reality laced with humor to a performance that dances on the edge of caricature without plummeting into it.
Jenny (Brenna Flanagan), a single mom and chorister, brings the division within the congregation into focus, stepping to the altar to deliver a testimonial that swerves from support for Paul to questions about why friends defecting to Joshua’s new church no longer speak to her. Even her boyfriend is becoming hostile to her staying at the church. Flanagan beautifully locates the confusion and heartbreak in this scene.
As an ensemble, everything appears to click with this cast. The energy generated by the principals in the opening minutes had audience members clapping and offering up an "Amen" or two. Of details that leave a hole in the experience, the 18-member choir sound like they were left out of the audio scheme and needed help raising the roof during its praise song/hymn performances.
To be clear, this is more than a play about Christians for Christians, even if the mystery of faith gets a workout. "The Christians" takes on a journey into the dilemma of what happens when the people around us — people we think we know, and who we love —change.
Contact StarNews arts and entertainment at 910-343-2343.
Want to go?
What: "The Christians" by Lucas Hnath, presented by UNCW's Department of Theatre
When: 8 p.m. Nov. 18-20, 2 p.m. Nov. 21
Where: Mainstage Theatre in the Cultural Arts Building, UNCW campus
Info: Tickets are $15, $12 for seniors and $6 for students and children. Masks required.
Details: 910-962-3500 or UNCWarts.universitytickets.com
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: UNCW's production of play 'The Christians' confronts mystery of faith
