It seems that anyone who has lived in, or around, Boston has at
least one connection to the Boston Archdiocese pedophile priest
scandal. We all know someone or someone who knows someone who was
directly impacted by the action (or inaction) of the Catholic Church in
this case. During the 1990s I lived down the street from Cardinal
Bernard Law's residence in Brighton, MA. During that time his
reputation was still, publicly, sound. His morals, unquestioned.
His word was, well....Law.
Michael Murphy's play
Sin: A Cardinal Deposed is taken directly
from four days of testimony in two separate depositions that Law sat for
in 2002. Also included are letters sent to the Cardinal, and his
predecessors, alerting them to the sexual misconduct of their
priests. Murphy has done a fine job culling, cutting and pasting
together a cohesive script out of that testimony. Murphy also
eases into the most horrific pieces of testimony, well aware that in
its entirety the abuse, and the damage done are so devastating that an
audience could not be blamed for shutting down, if only as a coping
mechanism.
In the title role, Sam Babbitt has the unenviable task of humanizing
Cardinal Law. In reality, Law usually projected an arrogant,
pompous, holier-than-thou demeanor and was notorious for over-acting as
soon as the cameras were on. Babbitt's Law is at times
thoughtful, witty, reserved, and alternately pompous, arrogant, bristly
and holier-than-thou. While watching Babbitt I was aware that Law
could not have a better representative. At the same time I could believe that the words coming out of Sam Babbitt's mouth were being said for
the very first time. It is a tremendous performance.
When compared to the phrase "courtroom drama", the phrase
"deposition drama" hasn't hit the common vernacular. There
is a reason. Depositions are tedious, with the same question
being asked in a dozen different ways. Even when there is a
'gotcha' moment, a deposition, usually, just doesn't have the same "Perry
Mason" punch. Giving
Sin its punch is Orson
Krieger, who is a composite of lawyers that were present at the
deposition. In this production Krieger is played by Scott
Winters. Under the direction of Judith Smith, Winters fills the
role out to, what I think, are its limits.
Tom Gleadow doesn't have much to do in the role of William Varley
except act like a slimy lawyer-type, but Gleadow does it well.
Wendy Overly and Chris Byrnes play 20 characters between them. It
is to the playwright, director and actor's credit that each of the 20
characters is distinct. The audience is never unsure who they
are listen to or the time period. I particularly enjoyed hearing
good, varied, Boston accents from the actors.
Steve Kidd is nearly silent throughout the play in the role of Patrick
McSorely. Kidd plays the pain and anger just barely below the
surface, occasionally flowing over. McSorely is not a
composite character. He was an abuse survivor, who took his
own life in February 2004. Playwright Murphy appropriately gives
McSorely the last word and in doing so leaves the audience with
it's collective head spinning.
Fortunately, The Gamm is having talk-balk sessions following each
performance of
Sin. For the opening night audience it was an
opportunity to check their own disbelief at the disregard the
Archdiocese had for the victims, while being "pastoral" to the abusers.
The acting, direction, staging and technical pieces of
Sin all contributed to an engaging, sometimes uncomfortable, but completely enjoyable evening of theater at the Gamm.
Sin: A Cardinal Deposed runs through April 22, 2007. Tickets range from $19-$31 and can be purchased by calling 401-723-4266 or visiting www.arttixri.com.
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