Review: Wilbury Theatre Group's Uneven CAIN + ABEL

CAIN + ABEL, the Wilbury Theatre's new production by Resident Playwright Ben Jolivet re-examines the familiar bible story of the two brothers, the role of god, legacy and relationships in a play that blends levity, philosophy and tragedy. The play consists of Cain and Abel, but also Lilith, who is Adam's (Cain and Abel's father) first wife, Mariah, Abel's wife, and The Traveler. The story of the exodus from the Garden of Eden is discussed, and the events of the play take place an undetermined amount of time afterward. The concept of the play is interesting and the story, which everyone already knows the ending of, is well punctuated with subtle jokes and moments of levity. Unfortunately, the execution leaves the play both underwhelming and over the top.

The set is an adult-sized Zen garden with audience seating surrounding it. Unfortunately, due to the massive size of the space surrounding the set, and the frequent deadpan delivery of lines, this means that much of the dialogue is incredibly difficult to hear. Compounding this is the fact that all of the actors talk over each other, making it even more impossible to understand what they're saying. This seems to be a deliberate choice as it happens throughout the play, and no doubt is intended to convey immediacy and a sense of realism since people in real life rarely pause and wait for the other to finish when they're arguing; but in the case of theatre, it just makes significant pieces of dialogue un-hearable. Reality is fine, but not at the expense of the show, and in this instance this strategy just makes the show frustrating to watch.

Many of the scenes between Cain and Abel go so far is to venture into mumblecore territory. Dialogue, particularly in the second act, seems almost throwaway since everyone watching already knows how it's going to end. There's one scene in particular where Cain and Abel have a back and forth that feels like they're just mumbling "I don't know, what do you think?" at each other for far too long. In a play that is dialogue driven, it's a poor choice to have so much of that dialogue come off as filler, rather than driving the action forward and the end result is just dull.

Most of the performances are quite subtle and understated, which serves as a nice counterbalance to the heavy ideas and intense ending that looms throughout. Jeff Hodge as Cain strikes a perfect note as the petulant brother who wonders what it all means and who seems paralyzed by overthinking. Abel, played by Tobias Wilson, by contrast, is a firm believer in god and duties of sacrifice, and the two brothers struggle to reconcile their ideas for how one should live, while seeming to love each other, even if they can't understand each other.

Things in their world are already unstable when we meet the character of Lilith, played by Melissa Penick. Lilith is easily the most complicated and interesting character in a cast of complicated characters, and she has some of the best and truest lines in the production. Unfortunately, Penick's performance is so overacted that it comes off as almost cartoonish. Juxtaposed by such subtle performances, it starts to feel as if she's just shouting 'I'm the villain' over and over. Considering that every character proves to be flawed and fallible, it's incredibly distracting when one tries to claim the mantle of the baddest of the bad over and over, rather than just letting the audience choose.

Roger Lemelin as The Traveler, aka god, is an interesting addition to this play, and ultimately what makes it more than just a re-hashing of the bible story most people know. He speaks directly to the audience, and admits that even though the world is his creation, he doesn't know any more than the people living in it. Having this character in the play is an good way to inject some philosophy into the narrative without it coming off as didactic or like a lesson from Sunday school. Lemelin is calm and Santa Claus-like, and radiates the kind of gravitas that makes you understand why Cain falls under his thrall and follows him around trying to make sense of life and the nature of god.

Overall, Cain + Abel is a play with promise, but one that suffers under poor execution, distracting line delivery and a failure to embrace a clear vision. With some tweaks, it could deliver, but in its current state, there are just too many variables weighing down this reimagining of a classic bible story.

Cain + Abel runs October 22-November 1 at The Wilbury Theatre Group, 393 Broad Street, Providence RI. Tickets are $15-$25. Call 401-400-7100 or order online at thewilburygroup.org.

Jeff Hodge as Cain & Tobias Wilson as Abel; photo by Maggie Hall.

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