BWW Reviews: Mee's THE GLORY OF THE WORLD Celebrates Merton at Humana Festival

Writing about a spiritual experience is a self-defeating exercise. As artful, accurate and sincere as it may be, it is only an imitation of the experience itself.

One man who made the best attempt possible to convey the breadth and magnitude of his spiritual perception was Thomas Merton. The Trappist monk, author and activist wrote over 70 books from his residence at The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani near Bardstown, Kentucky.

Merton's life of contemplation and exploration has inspired devotees of Catholicism, Buddhism, mysticism, communism and more to this day, and 2015 marks his 100th birthday.

Actors Theatre of Louisville has devoted a substantial portion of the 39th Humana Festival of New American Plays to examinations of the local landscape. For Merton's birthday, they decided to throw him a party. Artistic director Les Waters and Humana alumnus Charles Mee have collaborated to create "The Glory of the World," a piece exploring Merton's ideas, history and legacy. And just as metaphysical revelation transcends the literal and conventional, the production goes far beyond even the greatest power of the written word to employ all avenues of performance in the realization of a complicated, raucous, glorious mess - the course any party worth attending inevitably takes.

The play begins in near darkness, with only Waters, the director (the ultimate avatar of observation and discernment in the theatre), seated center stage. Projections of sentence fragments enliven our senses and minds, asking us to step to a new level of awareness while challenging our comfort levels with the total silence in the theater. Then, a garage door opens, and the party begins.

The meat of the play is a celebration of Merton attended by devotees of his many varied ideas. They toast the man, recounting and celebrating his meaning to the many types of people he reached. Words soon give way to passions, which give way to actions ranging from ridiculous to sublime. Every party has its peaks and valleys, and the valleys hear range from ping-pong quotational battles that undercut their own pretentiousness to deeply intimate pantomime. And the peaks? Hoo boy. The party goes into overdrive with dance breaks, shirtless pose-downs, lip sync battles and more, crescendoing into a fit of violence over some of the more controversial elements of Merton's life that dissolves into pure anarchy, including one party animal riding a drink cart into a stack of chairs with only a colander as a helmet. And then, the pizza arrives.

The entire affair is manically and magically realized by Mee, Waters and their entire cast and crew. Scenic designer Dane Laffrey goes full-bore in creating the most raucous bachelor pad imaginable. Mark Barton's lights and Christian Frederickson's soundscape are an encapsulating spectrum ranging from intense hard rock to romantic soul. Connie Furr Soloman's costumes add wonderfully playful details, from tails and spats to party hats.

The cast is a perfect mix of familiar veterans and Actors' own apprentice company. There is no dividing line of talent; all play wonderfully off each other and have a blast, whether tossing philosophical tidbits back and forth or engaging in a vicious battle royale. It's also encouraging to see familiar faces returning to the ATL stage, in addition to offering some meta entertainment if you enjoy seeing spectacles like the minister from last Humana's "The Christians" (Andrew Garman) and the Stage Manager from "Our Town" (Bruce McKenzie) engaging in a sword fight.

Mee's script works on many levels befitting Merton's story. Profound words are used to introduced actions that express the panorama of emotions and experiences Merton himself would be familiar with, from the sheer abandonment of ecstasy to violent frustration. Waters reappears to one side during one of the most intense sections of the action, adding the essential element of mindfulness and observation to the heat of the moment.

The play closes with Waters returning to centerstage, amid near-darkness, gazing outward as probing, zen-infused questions are projected in silence. The play immediately invites reflection in the wake of experience and profundity. In 80 minutes, the audience is immersed in as creative and consuming an artistic expression of the persona of Thomas Merton can achieve. Despite the purposefully regional focus, one hopes a piece this challenging and ambitious has life outside the walls at 3rd and Main.

"The Glory of the World"

By Charless Mee

Directed by Les Waters

At Actors Theatre of Louisville

Part of the 39th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays

For more information, go to www.actorstheatre.org.

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