It's the end of the world, and they don't feel fine

The maniacal, pajama-clad Reverend Eddie (Doug Lavanture '09) and his dimwitted yet insightful sidekick, Brother Lawrence (Dave Holtz '10), inhabit this post-apocalyptic cathedral. Reverend Eddie is preparing to deliver his final sermon, all the while looking over his shoulder for the Illuminati.

Upon entering the theater, I was led to my pew (chair) by an altar boy (usher) and took a seat among the congregation (audience). I don't just mean that metaphorically: The ushers were literally dressed as altar boys. When they took my ticket, they asked to show me to my "pew." I was first struck by the elaborate, realistic set, built by Peter Comerford '11. The sheer number and variety of objects on the stage was overwhelming. In addition to a pulpit, this church contained a toilet, an old TV set and a bow and arrow, among other seemingly random items scattered across the stage. The characters addressed the members of the audience as if they were the congregation, even physically approaching them. The church theme was taken to the extreme when the ushers came around and asked for tithes (trash) in the middle of the show.

The performances by Lavanture and Holtz were superb. Lavanture captured the essence of a paranoid lunatic, genuinely terrifying the audience with his startling antics. Holtz, on the other hand, gave the audience some comic relief and was genuinely lovable, providing a necessary foil to Lavanture's maddening Reverend Eddie.

The lighting by Shawn Fennell '10, Laventure and Courtney Jones '09 was simply lovely, especially during Reverend Eddie's dream sequences. These scenes, in which the reverend hallucinates about everything from a Lutheran country music band to a basketball game with Death, were especially well-staged by Martinez; I particularly enjoyed the eerie chanting of monks that ushered in each vision.

The issue I had with this production was that the play was not satisfactorily comedic. Because of certain choices by the director, I was more frightened than amused by this production.

First was the audience participation: Since we were acting as the congregation, we were commissioned to help whenever there was a crisis on stage. While exhilarating, the lack of the fourth wall was uncomfortable. I believe that Martinez was hoping for just such a reaction, but I found myself clutching my valuables and my companion for fear that one of them would be stolen from me by the actors. In fact, both were: My friend was literally pulled out of her seat to attend to a predicament on stage, and Holtz ripped my papers out of my hands in the middle of the performance. They were subsequently tossed to Lavanture, who read them aloud and announced that my friend and I were spies. I suppose I shouldn't have sat near the aisle.

The show's humor also felt flat because the audience is literally scolded for laughing - we are in church, after all. While I recognize that this in itself was comical, I was, quite frankly, afraid to laugh for fear that the unbalanced Revered Eddie would leap into the audience and yell at me.

Overall, the experience of being an audience member in this show can best be described as a rollercoaster ride. I was constantly clutching my seat for dear life. Rather than serving as a moment of peace in a busy week, this show was a heart-racing adrenaline rush.