views from the gods

saints and sinners of the stage and screen

Son of Man
The Museum of the Order of St. John
20th July 2014

★★☆☆☆

Son of Man

Photography provided by Cut String Theatre

"Are you here for the drama? You want to go across the street," explains a helpful security guard at the Museum of the Order of St. John. Whilst the main part of the museum is at St. John's Gate, there's a church and memorial garden on the other side of Clerkenwell Road, and underneath that church, there's a Norman crypt, which is where Son of Man is being staged. Finding the right building may not be straightforward but, when you do, the ticket price for the play is almost worth it just for the quasi-private view around the grounds before the show. However, this isn't a review of the museum; this is a review of Cut String Theatre's latest work, a production that's been stitched together from 48 medieval passion plays.

After a wander around the stunning memorial gardens, which will settle any nerves you have about going into what will obviously be an intense piece, a cocky Lucifer (Eli Carvajal) greets us and leads us down below. Staging Son of Man in a crypt is a fantastic decision - the acoustics, design and space work really well with the concept. However, with that said, the script is just so difficult to get into. Written in middle English with a few lapses into more modern dialogue and plenty of Latin, it's not particularly accessible.

There aren't any director's notes. I'm not even sure if there is a director - certainly none is credited anywhere - and this isn't one existing play that anyone will have studied before: it's a patchwork of lots of different texts. This means you have to pick things up as the action unfolds and the language is a huge barrier in doing so.

Lucifer introduces us to a man (Max Packman-Walder) and a woman (Juliette Motamed) - or possibly Man and Woman; it's not clear whether they represent a snapshot of humanity or all of humanity itself. The man has stolen a sheep, the woman has committed adultery - there's a reason why Lucifer has picked them out. At first, he seems to find their arrival entertaining, but when God (Noah Carvajal) turns up, the great man casts the first stone, the second stone and then commands Lucifer to throw a whole rockery at the human pair. No, he's not a very forgiving deity and he's just not interested in doing his own dirty work - far too divine for that.

Despite the show's attempts to be high brow, it can be summed up with Joan Osbourne's hit What if God was One of Us? Son of Man presents God as a fallible, imperfect being, one who isn't full of kindness and holiness, but very ordinary. He is fed up and angry, lashing out because of these human emotions, and forcing others to do His will, regardless of how cruel and unethical that might be. Is He wrong? Is humanity worth saving? When the Devil is the one fighting your corner, you know things are just not going well.

Both God and Lucifer have painted white faces, setting them apart from the mere mortals. Lucifer seems terrified - you would expect the Devil to revel in misery, but actually, despite a brief bit of initial swagger, there's not a lot hellish about him. God is cold and intimating - not exactly the sort of figure you would pray to. (Incidentally, the two opposing characters are played by brothers, which brings a certain symmetry to the piece.)

I can't help but feel that Cut String Theatre are trying to be deeply controversial with this work, however, as long as there has been organised religion people have questioned it. The idea of God being imperfect is not as provocative as perhaps they believe and there aren't any real conclusions. In fact, when the show finished, the audience seemed lost for a reaction. "Is it over?" whispered one with a face of genuine confusion. If I hadn't checked the running time in advance, I might have had the same question.

I'm loathe to be negative about a short show with a very reasonable ticket price but the writing is flawed and doesn't seem to tell us anything. The actors do a decent job with what they have but, given the nature of the piece and the atmospheric setting, this is a wasted opportunity to create something highly thought-provoking.

Son of Man ran from 19th July to 9th August 2014 at the Museum of the Order of St. John.

Nearest tube station: Farringon (Circle, Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City)



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