Wittenberg

At Jericho Arts Centre until December 4, 2022
Tickets from $15 (student) to $30 (adult) at www.unitedplayers.com or 604-224-8007

Posted November 15, 2022

“To believe or not to believe – that is the question.” In David Davalos’ play, young Hamlet is in Germany doing a double major (Philosophy/Theology) at Wittenberg University. There, two professors battle for his mind and/or his soul: Dr. Martin Luther and Dr. John Faustus. God-fearing Luther, obviously, wants to bring Hamlet into the fold while libertine Faustus wants Hamlet to turn his back on all that faith-based stuff and raise a little hell. (When Hamlet eventually returns to Denmark, he finds himself in another kind of hell and “To believe or not to believe” becomes, “To be or not to be” – but that’s another story.)

Under the brilliant direction of Adam Henderson, this amateur United Players production is first class and worthy of any professional stage in town. While the play bogs down now and again under the sheer weight of words, however clever they might be, Henderson and his cast – Matthew Bissett (John Faustus), Misha Kobiliansky (Martin Luther), Dylan Nouri (Hamlet) and Deborah Vieyra (The Eternal Feminine) – keep this wit-filled romp dancing merrily along.

Several scenes are so memorable it’s worth pointing out just one of them here: the Holy Virgin, in a long, long white gown and a halo of stars around  her head, appears high up on a stepladder. Costume by Julie White, lighting design by Michael Methot and set design by Emily Dotson come together to make pure theatre magic.

Playwright Davalos plays around with past, present and future as well as historical fact and fiction. Faustus, returning from Marrakesh, brings back some magic beans which when boiled with water and consumed three times/day will cure Luther’s chronic constipation: coffee. And there’s another little pharmaceutical treasure from the Middle East which, given to Hamlet by Faustus, produces hallucinations, perhaps enlightenment and definitely the munchies.

Buried under all this highly entertaining time-twisting and fun-poking, is the very real genesis of the Protestant Reformation. And while Martin Luther, as portrayed by Kobiliansky, is a kind of uptight, upright fanatic, he was really onto something: the Catholic Church had become staggeringly corrupt. Amongst the Church’s sinful practices was the sale of indulgences – meant to be earned through penance not purchased – to finance the Basilica in Rome. Reform was necessary and Martin Luther was there to post his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg. In this play, however, it is Faustus who does the posting. Luther, it seems, wasn’t quite ready or not quite sure.

Wittenberg is also about the rise of science, especially astronomy; Copernicus had, in this play, just posited the earth’s movement around the sun, not the other way around, thus throwing into complete disarray humankind’s notion of the Creation. If, suggests Faustus, the world wasn’t created by God – as the Bible tells us – perhaps we can’t believe anything in the Bible. “What if it isn’t true?” asks Faustus. “You go too far”, says Luther to Faustus. “You don’t go far enough”, retorts Faustus.

Despite their differences, Luther and Faustus are pool-playing and drinking buddies and bear grudging respect for the other’s position. Luther’s criticism was not of God but of the Church; Faustus would whole-heartedly agree with all ninety-five of Luther’s complaints.

As Faustus, Bissett is the lovable, rascally, womanizing, hard-drinking favourite. Bissett brings tremendous comedic skill to the role; he also sings and plays a lute-like instrument and not in a hey-nonny-nonny way but really rocking it out: “I’m known as the searcher/I want the truth”. Later, having had his proposal of marriage turned down, he sings, “Doctor, doctor, what can I do/I got me the lovebird blues.” The role really requires a potent,  charismatic actor to make it work and Bissett has the goods in spades.

Kobiliansky has the harder job to do: Luther, full of religious fervour, is less easy to relate to but Kobiliansky brings such unwavering passion mixed with disappointment at what the church has become, that Luther garners some sympathy. Luther’s argument is not with God, it’s with the Church. Kobiliansky gets us there.

Absolutely stunning is Deborah Vieyra as The Eternal Feminine – she is both Virgin and whore – and in every incarnation is gorgeously outfitted by costume designer Julie White. Vieyra is sassy and more than a little of a dominatrix as Helen, one who claims to have slept with the Emperor and the Pope and, she hints slyly, both of them at once. (This character might send you running back to Christopher Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus to catch the reference to Helen.)

In a play that one expects to be about Hamlet, he doesn’t actually play much of a role except as a trigger between Luther and Faustus. Dylan Nouri plays him as a bit dim, more than a little confused, a pretty fair tennis player and eventually as a Prince of Denmark, ready to assume his royal duties in Elsinore.

Wittenberg is always entertaining, always clever, always irreverent – in the manner of Tom Stoppard – but it’s work if you expect to keep up with the galloping pace, the historical references and the razor-sharp wordplay. It’s a play that probably reads extremely well but requires a lot of theatricality to pull it off. Director Henderson and his cast and crew find that sweet spot in this very fine mounting. Heaven-high production values; hellishly clever.