College Daze: WITTENBERG at Baltimore Shakespeare Fest.

In the comic dramedy, WITTENBERG, playwright David Davalos poses the question, what were Hamlet's college days like? Students of the Shakespeare's HAMLET know that it was at Wittenberg that Hamlet, Horatio, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern attended university. Wittenberg was also where priest and theologIan Martin Luther posted his 95 theses against the practice of indulgences, starting the Protestant Reformation.

What if Martin Luther had been one of Hamlet's instructors? And since Hamlet himself is a fictional character, why not make Dr. Faustus, the protagonist of Christopher Marlowe's play who sells his soul for knowledge and power, part of Hamlet's faculty as well.

Toss in the "Eternal Feminine" because - as director Tony Tsendeas observes in the program notes, it "wouldn't have meant anything without a woman or a girl" - and you have a play that entertains and educates.

Ultimately, WITTENBERG is more about the relationship between Martin Luther (Michael Stebbins) and John Faustus (Seth Reichgott), the latter the former's medical doctor; the former the latter's priest, both drinking buddies as "the Bunghole" where Faustus regales the audience with an electric lute while Luther spits the name "Tetszl!" through clenched teeth, referring undoubtedly to German Dominican preacher Johann Tetzel who had a reputation for selling indulgences.

In between the "Eternal Feminine" (Emily Clare Zempel) makes an appearance as the St. Pauley's Girl barmaid and later as Faustus' girlfriend as a reminder that life is not just knowledge and piety, but love (and lust) as well.

Hamlet (Michael Feldsher) is caught in the middle, a human tennis ball, batted back and forth (almost literally in one scene) between these two titans of literary and actual history-which path to choose?  "To believe or not to believe, that is the question," Hamlet wonders, just one of many clever nods to Shakespeare's famed work.

In between, slip in some bizarre dream sequences that hark of Hamlet's coming madness, a subplot about Copernicus and the discovery of the earth's rotation about the sun, Luther's divine inspiration and constipation, a risqué interpretation of the Bible (complete with silhouette pictorials) and a Faustus flummoxed by 16th century feminism, and, well, we're just getting warmed up.

Happily, The Cast is more than able, each actor a fine fit for his/her roles. Stebbins has the right build, round, fleshy, even looking a bit like the reAl Martin Luther, with a dash of  Wallace Shawn lunacy tossed in. Reichgott impresses as a man dedicated to seeking truth, a soul tortured by unrequited love, a friend who won't quit, and a pot-dealing-shades-wearing hipster professor I'd think most of the Baby Boomer audience wish they had when they were matriculating.

Zempel is saucy as the Bunghole barmaid, brightly independent as Faustus' would-be betrothed. Feldsher shines as the reluctant Danish-king-to-be, whether serving tennis balls or finding peace as would-be priest.

Norah Washington and Kelly Nolan create exceptional designs in costume/wardrobe (one wonders if 1500's tennis garb featured white tights and poofy-like-a-marshmallow shorts?); kudos also to the set designers who cleverly fashioned a church pulpit which  doubles nicely as the cathedral door where Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses. As per usual, Tony Tsendeas, a frequent presence as both director and actor for the BSF, does an exemplary job, keeping the pace for the comic work sprightly so that the two-plus hour production flies by.  

Wittenberg continues its run through June 14th at the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, now celebrating its 15^th anniversary season, at the St. Mary's Outreach Center in Hampden, 3900 Roland Avenue. For more information, call the box office at 410-366-8596 or go to www.baltimoreshakespeare.org.

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