Two of the most prominent stage actors in Washington, D.C., Edward Gero and Craig Wallace, go head-to-head as Martin Luther and Pope Leo X in Luther's Trumpet, presented by George Mason University's School of Theater as a digital, pre-recorded performance, available through Mason Arts at Home May 28 at 8 p.m. through May 29 at 11:59 p.m.
Acclaimed historian James Reston, Jr. adapted his 2016 book Luther's Fortress into this new dramatic work for the stage that will leave you pondering questions about faith, justice, priestly celibacy, and standing up against authoritarianism. Luther's Trumpet stars professional actors including
Edward Gero as Martin Luther,
Kevin Murray (Interim Director of the School of Theater) as Tetzel, and
Craig Wallace as Pope Leo X. Judge David Tatel (U.S. Court of Appeals) reprises the role of the Devil, which he portrayed in the 2018 premiere production at the Stone Hill amphitheater. The production is directed by Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts Rick Davis. Mason students join community and faculty actors in this "hybrid" production recorded from the Center for the Arts Concert Hall, employing the
Moving Story Window Wall projection technology (developed at Mason) in order to blend scenic effects and on-stage actors with others appearing remotely.
Luther's Trumpet is strictly available to watch from Friday, May 28 at 8p.m. until Saturday, May 29 at 11:59 p.m. ET. The performance is free, but registration is required. To register and for additional details, visit:
https://cfa.calendar.gmu.edu/luther-39-s-trumpet.
"We're bringing together some of region's top professional actors, talented Mason theater students, and outstanding community performers in a production space unlike any other I've ever seen-a true hybrid of in-person action on stage interacting with a world created online via Zoom," shared Davis. "This is both a pandemic accommodation and an experiment in post-pandemic techniques that will stretch our imaginations and, if it works, will set us free from some of our traditional space constraints."
In Luther's Trumpet Martin Luther's Reformation is under siege in the pivotal and dramatic months after Luther famously nailed his 95 Theses to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. (Reston's book was published in 2016 to mark the 500th anniversary of the 95 Theses.) In 1521, the Catholic Church hunts for the excommunicated monk now branded a heretic, seeking to silence him-by burning him at the stake if necessary-and suppress his Reformation Movement. But Luther's followers arrange for him to hide in Wartburg Castle. There, incognito, and despite formidable external foes like Pope Leo X and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and while waging internal battles with the Devil, Martin Luther translates the New Testament into German and struggles with his compulsory celibacy as a Catholic priest. When he emerges from his fortress after eight months, stronger and more determined, his Reformation gives birth to Protestantism, and the Christian religion is forever transformed.
Davis adds, "I am thrilled to be working with Reston again to get a second look at Luther's Trumpet, which sits squarely in my favorite genre of drama, the imaginative history play. This version builds on the work we did on the 2018 outdoor premiere at Stone Hill Amphitheatre in Rappahannock County, but in a very different environment."
The Moving Story Window Wall features a full stage video projection set behind onstage actors. This experimental technology is an innovation for digital collaboration in real time and full scale, affording an opportunity for the group of in-person actors to interact with the online cast and display visual settings of Rome, Wittenberg, and Luther's cell in the Wartburg Castle. The Window Wall is an invention of Mason's Dance Heritage professor
Christopher d'Amboise, who identified a need for larger-than-life or full-bodied video conferencing and launched the groundbreaking tool as part of
The LIVE Center (The Center for Live Interactive Virtual Education) in fall of 2020. By eliminating the barrier of distance, the full stage projection expands possibilities for virtual teaching, performances, and one-of-a-kind events.
"I could not be more pleased and gratified to see the play re-emerge in the hands of the finest actors in Washington and in a revolutionary form so appropriate to a time of plague," said Reston. "Hats off to Rick Davis and the entire Mason theater program for harnessing all these fresh creative elements into this unique and exciting production."
With a cast of Mason faculty, community, and student actors, including:
Edward Gero*: Martin Luther
Kevin Murray*: Tetzel
Craig Wallace*: Pope Leo X
Alison Weisgall*: Cardinal Giuliano de Medici
Hugh Hill: Hans
Karen Hochstetter: Argula van Stauff
David Tatel: The Devil
Steven Franco**: Phillip
Hasan Crawford**: Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
* Member of
Actors' Equity Association
** Mason student
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