Review of: Creature

"My heart is burning up. And I want to put out the fire by flinging myself upon the beautiful things which God has made" exclaims Margery Kempe (Sofia Jean Gomez) the unlikely heroine of Heidi Schreck's new bio-drama Creature playing at the Ohio Theater.

The play is based on the real life of Margery Kempe (1373-1430) an Englishwoman of solid bourgeois background (her husband is the town's ale brewer). After the birth of her son, Margery begins to have post-partum delusions wherein she is visited by the Devil (a creepy Will Rodgers) and later hears the voice of God. Through a series of mystical revelations, Margery soon becomes an outspoken religious fanatic.

In an era when having a non-Latin Bible was grounds for being burned at the stake, Margery's flamboyant (and at times self-righteous) proselytizing sets off red flags in the village. Her husband John (a stalwart Darren Goldstein) just wants things to get back to normal (aka sexual relations) while the local priest Father Thomas (the excellent Jeremy Shamos) worries that Margery's visions will inflame rather than enlighten the townsfolk (not to mention the religious hierarchy). The best scene in the play is the tentative debate between the rather liberal Father Thomas and Margery about the validity of her apparitions.

The most fascinating feature of Schreck's play is the fact that she takes the issue of Margery's faith as a given. There are no ironic twists or self-referential commentary concerning Margery's religious vigor. It is placed before the audience that Margery's faith is a fact of being born again; something which many in contemporary society look at with dubiousness at best. The discomfort that those around her feel with her ferocity mirrors that of the audience. It's exciting that we get caught up in the drama of Margery's fearless assertions (of course the fact that the story is set in medieval times provides something of a safety net for today's viewers). Schreck wonderfully adds another layer of discomfort by making Margery rather obnoxious. She's loud, vulgar and self-aggrandizing ("Who is poorer than I? You said before I'm wrathful and vain. It's true. I have no humility, generosity, no temperance and yet every day I must keep living!"). She would be a perfect candidate for the old Jerry Springer show. Ms. Gomez is extremely brave in not backing away from the insufferable quality of Margery's evangelicalism. It's definitely a bold performance.

Margery is finally advised to seek out Juliana of Norwich (Marylouise Burke in the performance of the evening) who has had similar visions and has chosen a life of monastic solitude to reflect on them. Creature closes with their meeting. Juliana is able to set Margery on a path that provides her with the knowledge to adapt her religious enlightenment into her daily affairs. Ms. Burke gives the scene a humorous tinge without negating the validity of having an ongoing faith in a higher power.

Again, the author refuses to look askew at the two women's beliefs but rather asks us to look for integration. It's another daring choice especially given how religiously fraught our own society has become.

Rachel Hauck's set has a lovely monastic quality and heightens Leigh Silverman's minimal but insightful direction. She has gotten wonderfully uncluttered performances from her actors as well.

But the play's the thing here and Heidi Schreck has created a "creature" of poetic wonder.

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