"The Christians" at SF Playhouse

SF Playhouse photo by Jessica Palopoli

Tonight the rains paused long enough for a group of us to get to SF Playhouse to see Lucas Hnath's play, "The Christians." Anchored by local mainstay Anthony Fusco and the newly-omnipresent Lance Gardner, a cast of five actors is surrounded by a full choir to fill the pulpit of a megachurch in the theater to examine what happens when the pastor (Fusco) has a change of heart about some fairly fundamental matters of faith.

The Play

We begin with the start of the service at a megachurch, with the pastor's sermon serving to teach us the history of the congregation and how it has grown from humble beginnings to build and fill a church with thousands of members every week. And they have just paid off the mortgage on the church, which seems like reason to rejoice until the pastor confesses that he's been rethinking some of the key tenets of the church's beliefs.

This leads to a schism with one of the associate pastors (Gardner) sent away with a remnant of the congregation to start his own church. The pastor's wife, the board of elders, and the rest of the congregation are initially supportive, but eventually all start to question both the substance and the timing of the pastor's announcement. Conflict ensues as the church and the individuals all have to come to grips with where they stand on the matter.

In truth, the play is a bit thin. It starts pretty slowly (really: a sermon isn't exactly what I was looking for this Wednesday evening), augmented by several full hymns from the choir. By the time we learn what the whole matter is about, it's actually a little hard to get worked up about it or sustain the interest in how it will work out.

In the end, when the crowd has moved on and most of the individuals have, too, all we're left with is the pastor musing on the epistemology of belief and whether he can salvage any of his personal relationships while he figures out the rest.

Frankly, the play drags a bit, even at only 90 minutes. Absent the hymns and the final musings, there is maybe an hour of play, and even that seems a bit stretched. It just doesn't feel like there is really a whole play here.

The Production

The star of the show, really, is the set. Director and Set Designer Bill English has done a terrific job of creating a very credible church on the stage, and there is no need to adjust it for any of the occasional scenes that take place in the pastor's office or home. That all just works. The lighting changes are effective, if a bit heavy-handed. And the music is well done, despite the fact that it doesn't really advance the plot at all. It would have been sufficient to sing smaller bits of hymns and perhaps bring it down to background behind some action and dialog, rather than just having little musical interludes.

As much as I can see Fusco as the intellectual pastor having arrived at a crisis of faith, where I never got on board was as his role as the charismatic preacher of a megachurch. He comes across not as the comet shining along with its long tail, but more as the intellectual scholar. I'm supposed to believe he's been preaching fire and brimstone, and he seems more likely to rap over a cup of nice tea. They talk about his star power, but we never get to see or feel it.

 Another oddity in the performance is the fact that the characters are always talking into hand-held microphones. It works when they are preaching or testifying in church, but they continue the practice when speaking individually, including a conversation between the preacher and his wife in bed. I get that it's supposed to represent that this isn't real, that either the characters are always talking to a larger audience, or that it represents the tale as told by the preacher (as he also fills in narration at times). But mostly it just makes everything seem oddly affected, as if I'm viewing all the action from the far reaches of the back of the church, rather than the fairly intimate setting of the theater. By the end, it's just annoying.

Bottom Lines

Ultimately the play isn't very satisfying. The crisis of faith doesn't feel very much like a crisis, more like a problem to be mulled over and solved by a committee of scholars. But neither do we get very deep into the intellectual side of things (which is probably why it feels stretched, even in an hour-and-a-half). It seems like Hnath had some interesting notions and started to write a play about them, then got bored and just kind of tied it up and called it done. It wasn't.

But as usual, SF Playhouse does a nice job: the play is well designed and well acted (within the limitations noted above). I would like to see some more emotional range and/or intellectual depth, but this is what we get. Unfortunately (and also as usual), SF Playhouse misses on some of the little details that would make this a much better show overall. Some more subtlety in the lighting and sound might help, or some more imaginative and varied costuming.

Also, really: not having the concession staff dump out the recycled bottles out in the lobby in the middle of a quiet speech of Fusco's. It's only a 90-minute show: you can clean up after we leave. Also, maybe a little caffeine for the ushers before they start work. English and the box office staff are always friendly and lively, but most of the other volunteers and staff just kind of suck the energy out of the room. It's that kind of stuff that keeps SF Playhouse from being one of my favorite theaters: so much to like, and so many rough edges that don't need to be there.

If the subject of this play appeals to you, you might enjoy it, but otherwise, I think you'd be wise to pass this one.