Stage Review - Incorruptible (Lakewood Playhouse)

Stage Review - Incorruptible
Presented By: Lakewood Playhouse - Lakewood, WA
Show Run: April 05 - April 21, 2024
Date Reviewed: Saturday, April 13, 2024
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman

Do miracles exist? How does one differentiate between what is magic, what is science, what is a true miracle, and what is a sham? That’s where playwright Michael Hollinger was coming from when he wrote what turned out to be his first full length play, Incorruptible. Written in 2002, and having premiered at Philadelphia’s Arden Theatre, Incorruptible is labeled as a “Dark Comedy About the Dark Ages” and is set in a monastery in medieval France, in or around 1250 AD. It is definitely a comedy, and it is most certainly dark. To see this play, which is currently being presented on stage through April 21 at Lakewood Playhouse just outside of Tacoma, one must surely check his or her piety at the door and take it for what it is, a satirical look at religion, faith, and the existence of miracles. The production, which is directed by Erin Manza Chanfrau, tells the story of a monastery in Priseaux, France, whose resident Saint, Saint Foy, has not performed a miracle in over a decade. The shame of it all is that the town of Priseaux is destitute, its river having flooded, the chandler shop having burned to the ground, and there is nary a crumb to eat in the monks’ pantry. It features a group of hapless monks under the leadership of Charles, the Abbot of the monastery, a peasant woman, her musically talented daughter Marie, Marie’s husband (married in everyone’s eyes but the law…..and the church) Jack, who is a sketchy minstrel and happened to see with his own eyes (er, eye) a series of miracles performed at a rival church by the “real?” Saint Foy, and Agatha, Abbess of Bernay, that rival church and a woman who has a special, albeit contentious, relationship with Charles. Sounds like there is a lot to keep track of, that there are a lot of twists and turns? Well, you’d be right. Hollinger has written a hilarious tale of deception, of sleight of hand, and one which will make you question whether seeing really is believing.

The setting is simple, there’s only one location where the story takes place actively, and that’s the Priseaux monastery. What set designer Lex Gernon-Wyatt has done here takes advantage of that, set pieces are largely stationary, though the same can’t necessarily be said for the props on that stage. Lex has laid the stage out like a cross, much in the way the great cathedrals of Europe are built, the Lakewood stage’s cross having a writing table to the right and a bench to the left with an alter containing the bones of Saint Foy at the cross’ head. The staging of the show is nicely done all around. Alonna Hall’s lighting design, like the set, is not altogether complex, but there are some nice touches, like the tinge of red applied to the lights when the monks pray. Nick Fitzgerald’s costume design is also along the same lines, the monks wearing the standard brown robes, adorned with crosses and ropes for belts, but where the dress needs to be a little more complex, as in what the peasant woman wears, or the clothing worn by the minstrel and his wife, Nick does well to add the needed complexity while keeping them reflective of their class or stature. The only issue I have with the production is some of the staging within the unique confines of the Lakewood auditorium. There’s a crucial scene near the end of the show, but I was unable to see it as one of the actors was literally right in front of me. For a scene that important, I would have expected that all of the sight lines be clear, perhaps accomplished by moving the actors back a few steps, or positioning them some other way so that everyone can see. There’s a lot of time invested in the play when that scene happens and it’s too important not to have everyone be able to get the payoff.

Lakewood Playhouse, perhaps as a result of the layout of its space, relies more on story and acting than it does on creative design. It has been that way with each show that I’ve seen there and it is no different with Incorruptible. The story itself is extremely funny, but at the same time it’s thought provoking. The dialogue is nicely paced and it is generally well written. The characters that Hollinger has created here are human, foibles and all, and that’s what makes this work, that regardless of what each of these people do, it’s clear why they do it, even if what they do may not be consistent with their type, such as when a monk, who one would think should hold honesty above all, stretches the truth, which these do quite often. As the story begins, the audience learns that the town is in bad shape and its monastery unable to support its constituents. A peasant woman enters, looking for a miracle, asking Saint Foy, whose bones are laden across the alter, to help her ailing animals, the monks allowing her to pray despite her inability to pay them. It turns out, Saint Foy’s miracles have dried up, there’s nothing to be done, and while the monks play along, they won’t let on. At the same time, word comes from Bernay that a one-eyed monk from the Priseaux monastery claimed that he was carrying the bones of Saint Foy and upon hearing that, the Abbess ordered said bones to be placed on their alter. Once placed, their Saint Foy immediately started producing miracles aplenty. Of course, there is no one-eyed monk from Priseaux, and something most definitely smells afoul. But in the aftermath of this news, the monks of Priseaux have a light bulb moment, and devise a plan, or more precisely a scheme, to reinvigorate their coffers and start producing miracles which they hope will draw the attention of the Pope himself. If they can convince the Pope to visit, and bless their church, they firmly believe that they’ll never again know poverty. From there, the story takes a number of turns, each of them surprising and each funnier than the last, and all the while leaving the audience to question its definition of what a miracle truly is.

The cast that Erin has put together to deliver this piece does very well to deliver the comedy, most of it played straight, though a lot is delivered through excellent timing, a hesitation there, an inflection there. It’s all very well done. Dennis Rolly plays Charles here, the Abbot of Priseaux. Dennis’ character is the leader of the monks, he sets the direction of the monastery, and puts their questionable scheme into motion, but not without the urging of Brother Martin (Wade Hicks) whose sole purpose seems to be to do whatever he can to make sure the church is still around when it’s his turn to take it over. Brother Martin is not above doing something questionable to make sure they return to solvency either. Meanwhile, Brother Olf, who isn’t the brightest of the group, and played by Devin Felix, starts the chain of events when he finds a dead body outside the church walls, leading to the lengthy consideration of what should be done with it. Finally, within the Priseaux monastery is Brother Felix, the most pious of the group, the voice of reason in a play where reason is ultimately hard to find. Each of this group brings a unique personality to their roles, coming together to present the keystone cops of the Catholic Church. Their intentions are good without a doubt, but their actions leave a lot to be desired. I like all of their portrayals, and though Dennis got a bit of a slow start during last Saturday’s performance, and seem to stumble on some lines early on, he soon hit his stride and raised the level of everyone’s performance as a result. Dennis has a certain Carlin-esque quality about his mannerisms, and that easily adds to the humor he brings to the role. Wade, on the other hand, hits the ground running, delivering from his first line all the way through his last. The timing, the pace of dialogue, and the group’s ability to “get it” when it comes to delivering humor, all of it helps to make Incorruptible what it is, an entertaining and fun piece of theatre.

Beyond the aforementioned and hapless monks, the cast rounds out with the peasant woman, played by Nicole Lockett, her daughter Marie (Danielle Shope), and Marie’s husband Jack (Guy Simpson), plus Abbess of Bernay Agatha (Sharry O’Hare). Guy has the most stage time out of this group, and he makes the most of it, showing his comedy chops in his reluctance to join in with the monks’ scheme or when his minstrel is performing with his wife at the monastery. He can also juggle quite well, though his character seems to indicate otherwise. Danielle is clearly talented vocally and while her Marie isn’t on stage for much of the play, until Act 2, when she is onstage, she brings a lightness that begets her ability. Nicole’s peasant woman is key to the plot in many ways, and I like her performance here, especially when she has spirited interactions with the monks. Finally, Sharry’s character, while mentioned throughout Act 1, doesn’t appear until after intermission. Her Agatha has a certain type of rivalry with Charles, and when her church begins to produce miracle after miracle through their Saint Foy, Charles takes this as a personal challenge, which ultimately leads to his decision to go forward with this scheme that I keep referring to. When Sharry does hit the stage in Act 2, she does so with a vengeance, her character loud and full of personality. It’s quite the feat, when an audience has had its perception of a character built up for the majority of a play, just to have that perception exceeded when the character finally does appear.

Incorruptible is a satirical look at the inner workings of a monastery, one that is struggling to stay above water and serve its parishioners when absolutely nothing seems to be going right. The pantries are empty, there’s no money coming in, and their saint has lost the ability to serve up a miracle. It’s a hilarious take that will leave you rethinking your definition of a miracle, and it’s a production that will entertain you from the minute it starts to the moment you leave Lakewood Playhouse. Served up by a creative team that clearly understands the space and delivered by a cast with comedic chops that never fail to hit their marks, Incorruptible asks you to leave your piety at the door and allow yourself to be entertained for a few hours, something that is easily achieved with this production.

Incorruptible runs on stage at Lakewood Playhouse through April 21. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://www.lakewoodplayhouse.org/.