Review: "One Man Two Guvners", Weathervane Playhouse

      Weathervane Playhouse’s One Man, Two Guvnors” loosely based on “The Servant Of Two Masters”, a 1743 Comedia del arte-style production, probably works better for British audiences than it does for Americans.   It is a British farce.  The comedy is slapstick at times.  Many of the jokes fail with a resounding thud because American audiences in Central and Southeastern Ohio just don’t understand the British references.  In my opinion the show is about 30 minutes too long.  The pacing of the opening night performance was a tad slow.  The acting is uniformly good across the entire cast.  Ryan Metzger proves versatile, funny and full of energy as the servant. 

    I enjoyed seeing our good friend Kerbie Minor as Rachel Crabbe who pretends to be her deceased brother because her lover Stanley Stubbers (Layne Roate) killed her twin brother. Minor is confident and convincing.  

   Our dear Otterbein friend Kayla Walsh acquits herself well as Dolly. The excellent supporting cast all has great moments in their various roles. Nick McQullen’s portrayal of the slow, plodding, heart-attack-prone, 80-year-old waiter Alfie is delightful. The ensemble work is quite respectable. 

    The set didn’t work for me, though I understand it is the same kind of set used for the professional Broadway production in New York. 

    There were a couple glaringly obvious missed sound cues during the opening night performance. 

   The lighting is decent. 

   The show includes two or three songs, which are excellent and well rendered. I suspect the authors added the songs to comply with the Comedia Dell Arte format they were trying to imitate.   I recall an Actors Theatre production at Schiller Park Columbus a couple years ago that incorporated Comedia Dell Arte. Actors sang, juggled or played the lute, recorders and other early music instruments as part of the pre-show and intermission.  They also played during scene changes. The songs in “One Man, Two Guvnors” are part of the show itself and only serve to make it seem longer.  

    “One Many Two Guvnors” enjoyed a three-year run in London’s West End from 2011 to 2014. It had a very limited run on Broadway from mid-April until the end of August 2012. The New York production received award nominations for acting, scenic design, costumes and music score. James Corden won a Tony and Tom Eden won an Outer Circle Critics award for their acting in the Broadway production.

    This show is probably okay for what it is. Whatever it is, I don’t like it.   Among other things, it seems to be one of those scripts where the author is a little too enamored with his own jokes, most of which the audience didn’t seem to get. On my rating scale of from one to ten, I give the acting a seven, but overall, for me the show is only a four – mostly because of my intense dislike for the script. 

Understanding And Loving Each Other And Ourselves

      My previous blog about Gay marriage and gay rights drew a lot of Facebook flack from gay people and their friends.  Many of these people are no longer my Facebook friends – several of them because they unfriended me, and one that I unfriended and blocked because he just wanted to be angry and insulting.  

  I would like to thank the friend who posted a very tender, uplifting note on the subject of understanding. I won’t mention any names because I don’t want that person to incur the anger and hatred that has turned on me for having the audacity to express my conservative opinions.

  Sexual orientation is part of who we all are. But things like that should not limit the way we think about each other or ourselves.

   That’s part of the point I was trying to make when I wrote that no amount of legislation could make us all the same.

    When I think of my many gay friends, I think about what sweet, kind, talented, imaginative people they are. 

   I enjoy watching them as they sing, dance and move across theatre stages with grace and style.  I have spent many wonderful hours sharing things like theater and music with them.

   I think about the teachers among them and their devotion to guiding and helping students. 

    I think about the cleverness and beauty that comes through in the creativity of those who are writers, musicians and artists. 

     I admire the skill, knowledge and dedication that gay people bring to their various professions.

   It makes me happy to see the love they have for their families, their pets, their homes, their gardens and each other.

   I smile to myself when I think about what funny, fun-loving people some of them are.  

    I am certain that gay marriage will be legalized – whether or not people like me agree. 

   If the upcoming Supreme Court decision does not authorize it, then it will come about via some kind of legislation that states like Ohio will eventually have to pass. 

    It will not make everything all better.

    It won’t make everybody happy. 

    Things like love, happiness, understanding, acceptance, dignity, respect and confidence cannot be legislated. 

   I hope that clergy and religious leaders will be aware of that and try to provide counsel and support to help folks come to terms with any anger or discomfort as churches help gay people celebrate their unions.

    I continue to hope and pray that my gay friends – indeed all my family and friends-- might find joy, peace and harmony within themselves. I really do care about you all and wish you well, despite our different ideas and opinions.

  I say that in sincerity and out of my belief in a higher power that loves and sustains us all in this wonderful, diverse universe. 

Defending Christianity -- Or Maybe Not

    One of my favorite conservative media blogs recently criticized a liberal media blog that asked “Could we please just get God out of religion?” http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2015/05/24/daily-beast-asks-can-we-please-get-god-out-religion.  

     In My opinion,  both Tim Graham, writing for the conservatives and Barrett Homes Pitner, writing for the liberals, missed the point. 

    I wonder  “Could we please get politics out of religion, put God back into the church and stop idolizing overly emotional, unrealistic, sentimental ideas about who Christ was and what he did?”

     Liberal agendas of political correctness, multi-cultural inclusiveness, gay rights, climate change and environmentalism dominate Twenty first century church discussions.  Pope Francis, who purports to be the leader and spokesman for 1.2 billion Catholics across the globe, regularly opines on popular western topics and has recently jumped onto the anti-capitalist, environmentalist and gay rights bandwagons.  He stops short of endorsing gay marriage while he maintains the traditional Catholic stance against ordination of women and marriage of priests.  

     Why are liberals attacking religion when churches are promoting the gospel of liberalism? 

      It seems to me that liberals and contemporary Christians want the same things.  They expect God, the church and the government to be gushing nannies that will grant all wishes, accommodate everybody’s whims, guarantee a comfortable carefree life and release us all from responsibility or consequences for anything. 

    A local theatre production of “The Christians” by Lucas Hnath sparked my zeal for this topic and stirred me to write this blog.

    The play focuses on worship at a successful contemporary mega-church.  The senior pastor preaches about a revelation he has that hell may not be a literal place and folks living an otherwise moral existence may not be condemned to eternal damnation just because they haven’t been baptized or publicly proclaimed their belief in Christ.  This disclosure upsets the associate pastor who begins reading and quoting every scripture passage he can find that talks about hell.  Members of the congregation are asked to choose sides.  A schism ensues and this huge mega-church fades to ruin.  The end!  And the end of the church-- at least that’s what liberals and atheists hope for.

   In my conservative, -- perhaps naïve – opinion, I see this as an opportunity for true thinking and discernment. 

    What do we believe?

  Why do we believe what we believe? Where did these ideas come from?

   How do our beliefs inform and affect our everyday lives?

   Are we willing and able to seek common ground where we can all live, work, and worship together though we may disagree on some of the finer points of scripture, politics and social preferences? 

   Note the wording “seek common ground” not “compromise?”  There’s a huge difference. 

     Compromise means lowering standards, giving up and giving in.  “Seeking common ground,” means lifting awareness to a higher perspective and objectively examining all sides of the issues. It requires thinking.   

    I don’t mean intellectual acumen.  Most pastors are intellectually, astute, unless they received their clerical certification from one of those internet sites where the only credentialing requirement is completion of the forms and paying the fees. 

     I am referring to being able to go beyond the intellect, to raise awareness to a higher level where inspiration resides, to be able to use that inspiration or “spirit” for pure understanding and then to discipline and integrate intellect, emotions and physical activity to achieve the ideas and goals generated from that kind of understanding.  That’s what the real Christ taught and exemplified. 

     The only intelligent way to understand The Christ and the scriptures about his life and teaching is to reflect on the historical context and symbolic meanings as well as the words of scriptural text.   This kind of approach requires thinking – using the mind instead of the emotions. 

      But just as some folks mindlessly believe everything that comes from favorite politicians and media gurus, many contemporary Christians fall into lockstep with their churches’ preaching and teaching.  No thinking is required or desired.  Salvation comes from “accepting Christ into one’s heart,” being baptized, publicly proclaiming devotion to Jesus and memorizing salient scripture passages to be recited on demand while trusting what the church and the clergy say without question.   Bonus grace is awarded for throwing in “Jesus Loves You”, “God Bless” and “I’ll pray for you” as car bumper stickers and punctuation for all communications, much as mindless sports fans punctuate their communications with the aphorisms of their favorite teams.  After all, sports fanaticism truly is a sacred religion throughout the world. Total combined weekly worship attendance at a thousand of the most popular churches doesn’t come close to the number of folks congregating in sports stadiums and around television screens to scream, jump up and down and let their emotions rage while watching favorite athletic contests.

   “Can I get an Amen? ….  Praise God!.... Go Team!...  Alleluia!....  Thank Ya Jeeesusss!”

    The truth is that if the real Jesus returned to earth today and started living, working, preaching and teaching in the same way he did over 2,000 years ago, he would again be maligned by the liberal left that felt threatened by the kind of real power, love and understanding that Jesus commanded.  Jesus’ message and example would again be misunderstood and disregarded by the weak-willed who felt an emotional attachment to Jesus and meant to follow him but could not get past their fears, doubts, superstitions, worries and wanting things to be easy.  Jesus would again be handed over for execution by some right-winged radical who was dissatisfied that Jesus didn’t use his power to do away with all the liberals.  And the mindless mobs would deny Jesus and cheer for his execution again rather than risk the wrath of all the activists, union leaders and chief government officials. 

    It saddens me to be so cynical about religion. I have many fond memories of attending worship and being part of church communities.   Church was an oasis for me in grim confused moments of childhood.  Fellowship with church folks formed the core of my social life for over 50 years, including my three years on active duty with the army.  Church sustained me in times of loneliness, loss and fear. I sang in church choirs for most of my adult life. I have experienced many powerful, rich, spirit-filled religious rituals and ceremonies. 

    But people wanting to hold hands during The Lord’s prayer or shouting Alleluia and Amen in the midst of worship, embarrasses me. I prefer adherence to the scripture passage that says,  “When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.  (Matthew 6:6).

    Too many church people seek personal prestige and support for a political church instead of making sincere attempts to build up humankind for God’s kingdom.  It’s what some people have come to label “churchianity”.

    I am tired of hearing clergy preach and teach didactic liberal dogma.  I am annoyed by attempts of petty politicians to dominate church activities and exercise their personal egos by spreading gossip and disrupting congregational meetings with their negativity and their desires to control others.  

      On Christmas Eve in 2011 our pastor used his sermon to draw analogies between Jesus’ birth in a manger and the “Occupy Wall Street” movement that was trending at the time. 

   My regular worship attendance waned after that. Church friendships have faded.

    Though I have stopped going to church, I still consider myself a Christian.  I believe in the things that Jesus taught and the example he gave. 

   I have lost faith in organized religion.  It has ceased to support and nurture my conservative principles, values and ideas. 

    

My Conservative Struggle With Gay Marriage Issues

        During a conversational lull at a party I attended in June, 2015, a woman whose name I don’t remember, asked my friend Jim and his partner about their plans for marriage should the Supreme Court decision rule to uphold marriage for same-sex couples. 

   I found her tone and attitude to be patronizing.  Jim and his partner seemed embarrassed by the question.

     I restrained myself from telling this stupid woman how insensitive I thought she was being.

   After an awkward pause, Jim’s partner (whose name also escapes me– let’s just call him Walt) started talking about how they were looking forward to hearing what the Supreme Court had to say but that it really didn’t matter.

   “We’ve been together for eleven years and we have all our documents in order. Our church would marry us now if we wanted,” Walt said.

    He went on to talk about people’s interpretations of Bible passages about homosexuality and how the Bible really doesn’t say anything against homosexuality as some conservative Christians have argued.

    I was so uncomfortable with this whole discussion that I thought about leaving the room.  I decided against it because I didn’t want Jim and Walt to think that I was anti-gay or unfriendly.  I tried to keep my mouth shut, but it was difficult with only four of us there in such close proximity in the small living room of this quiet suburban home.  I ended up babbling something about civil unions instead of marriage, which was more than I should have said.

  I consider myself the poster child for Ms. Manners’ proscriptions against discussing politics, religion or sex at social gatherings.  The Gay marriage issue hits the tri-fecta of unsuitable subjects for polite social conversation.

   I have strong conservative ideas, and I am pretty outspoken with my opinions. Most of the people in my social circles are liberal. 

     For the record, I am not anti-gay. 

     I am opposed to gay marriage. I am over-the-top intolerant of in-your-face activism of all flavors and sizes because it always portends some kind of over-the-top bigotry and injustice - no matter which side of the issues it claims to be on.

     I agree with the those who believe that marriage is and should continue to be defined as a union between one man and one woman as they seek to pro-create and parent.  I know that heterosexuality doesn’t guarantee marital harmony and family stability, but I think it is a cultural norm to which we should aspire for the sake of propagating and maintaining the human species. I know that children do come into the relationships of same-sex couples.  Some same-sex couples are doing a good job of nurturing and raising children.  But it is not the same as pro-creating and raising children via healthy, mature stable, nurturing, heterosexual married parents.   

    I support the concept of civil unions and would like to see the states expand legislation to give same-gender couples the legal rights, benefits and protections that heterosexual married couples have. 

     All stable, mature adult couples --whether heterosexual, homosexual or asexual -- should be afforded the rights to share their property, bills, insurance and taxes if they are seriously, sincerely committed to sharing their lives with each other.  The government and all other institutions should recognize and support these kinds of unions.   If a ceremonial blessing via religious affiliations is desired and churches are agreeable, I think that’s a good thing.  

   Refusing to apply the term “marriage” to same-sex unions does not mean that these kinds of relationships are or should be considered less loving, less valid or less important.

     I’ve heard all the arguments about how my kind of conservative attitude relegates same-sex couples to second-class status.  

   Jim and his partner and many other healthy, mature same-sex couples don’t think of themselves or their relationships as being “second class.”  As Jim’s partner noted, they have loved each other and enjoyed sharing life together for many years. And they will continue to love each other and enjoy sharing life together regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision.

    It seems to me that this “second-class status” is mostly an opinion or a discomfort that people have about themselves or each other.  No amount of legislation can fix that.   

   All this controversy about gay marriage should have caused us to objectively look at all sides of the issue, read and listen to a wide variety of ideas on all sides of the issue and then do some searching and decision-making in our own minds and hearts instead of letting the mainstream liberal media and other people's opinions decide for us.  We have allowed civil discussion of these issues to be drowned in the divisive ugliness and confusion of activism.   

     I am discouraged by the fact that in all this hubbub over gay marriage, I am not hearing a lot of discussion about family values or the sanctity of life – not even from churches.   I see the churches as having abdicated their role in counseling and support for couples and families.   

     At a time when so many people seem unable to make any kind of serious long-term commitment to anything, I think the clergy should be toughening their standards for sanctioning couples –heterosexual couples as well as same-sex couples.   Instead I read blog posts where churches are throwing open their doors and inviting gay couples to take advantage of holiday wedding specials much as stores tout their special holiday sales. 

    What happened to that quaint old religious custom of guiding couples through a lengthy discernment and education process to verify that they were entering into the sacrament in sober reverence, understanding and respect for themselves, each other, the community, the church and God?

     Recent surveys have shown a shift in people’s opinions since 2003 when no states permitted same-sex unions and all referendums on the subject to that point had voted it down.  As a result of continued hammering from the activist-driven, liberal-leaning main stream media and the liberal media’s influence on the millennials, who now make up a significant portion of the populace, a majority of Americans now favor gay marriage, although less than three percent of the adult population in America is gay and many of those adults who have identified themselves as gay have no interest in marriage.  

   With the increased popular support and many states having passed legislation that permitted same-sex couples to marry, the Supreme Court decision  to favor gay marriage was inevitable. 

    In my un-humble, conservative opinion this represents yet another subjugation of respect for the sanctity of life and the value our society places on families.  
    Activists, by definition, are angry, uncomfortable, unhappy people. Even though gay marriage became the law of the land via the Supreme Court and State Legislatures, activists are still unhappy with themselves and each other.  The need to agitate never disappears.   These people always need to be angry and upset about something. Activists will continue to push for more.  It will not end until people learn to think and reason for themselves and have the courage to stand up to activism.