Faith, family and love are the heart and centre of The King James Bible Play.
The Nina-Lee Aquino directed show, written by Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman, opened at the Studio Theatre Friday night.
Dramedy is the best word to describe this show, a mix of comedic and heart-breaking moments through a story centered on the men translating the Bible for King James and the theatrical troupe of women making a play based on them.
The cast does a fantastic job in their performances including Deborah Hay as Martie, Cyrus Lane as Sir Henry Savile, Vivien Endicott-Douglas as Han, Steven Hao as Willie, Liz Der as Roni, Gray Powell as John Bois, Angel Lo as Anna, Michael Spencer-Davis as John Perrin, Sara Topham as Cath, and Rylan Wilkie as George Abbot.
A minimalist set includes tables, chairs and a book shelf shown on stage. Subtle blocking and use of candles and other props is used to convey the passage of time.
The men and women in the show hold a lot of parallels with one another through their personalities and struggles, ranging from Roni and Bois’s relationship issues with their partners to Cath and George’s flair for dramatics to Sir Henry and Martie’s near unhealthy obsession to complete their work and the strained relationship they share with their children Willie and Han, respectively.
The costumes add a lot to the parallels as characters would wear similar shades red, green, brown, and white in the medieval and modern periods.
One of the best aspects of the production is seeing how Henry and Martie handle their relationship with their children. While Henry isn’t able to have a vulnerable, honest conversation with Willie, Martie is able to do so with Han in one of the play’s most emotional scenes.
The show also deconstructs certain aspects of the Bible, most notably that of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus and whether Joseph was ‘perfect’ or ‘just’ raising someone who wasn’t his biological child.
The King James Bible Play runs until Sept. 26.
Reporter Hussam Elghussein is sharing observations on opening week performances at the Stratford Festival.
