USD theatre arts program presents “Saint Plays”

"A saint is a human mandala - a life in a ritual shape held up as a focus for concentration," Erick Ehn writer of "Saint Plays" said.  
Last week, the USD undergraduate theatre arts program debuted "The Saint Plays," written by Ehn and directed by Robert Barry Fleming, chair of the theatre department. The play is composed of five different pieces, each centered on the life of a saint.  The five pieces are "Wholly Joan's" (Joan of Arc), "Locus" (John the Baptist), "Polio Comes From the Moon" (Bernadette), "Dashboard" (Christopher) and "Assent/Irish Love Ray" (Madeline-Sophie Barat).
"Saints make an autobiography of conundrum," playwright Ehn said, "and practice right conduct on a field occupied simultaneously by the impossible and the ethical, by that which cannot be comprehended yet compels choice."
The play explores how the stories of saints are still relevant to contemporary culture.
First, the use of sign language throughout the play was intriguing.  Some of the different stories involved communications with the divine. This use of sign language intensified the emotional content of the scene. It was surprising in the first scene, when the first character, Joan of Arc, launched into a monologue addressing God with both pleading words and flowing sign language.  But then as the stories progressed, there was a promising feeling that it really added to the play.
This method was effective because communication with the divine is so extraordinary that using sign language in addition to the spoken word makes it more concrete.  This technique was used throughout the entire play as a common thread.
The production quality of the play was utterly impressive.  The way that images were projected onto the white background to create changes of scenery was well done and surprisingly effective.  Projecting images and having just a few props seems minimalistic, but as an audience member this creates a good sense of place.  
The play takes the stories of the saints and puts them in radically different settings than what the Bible details. It was evident that a lot of thought and work was put in to convey these different places and time periods. The screen above the stage where the divine would communicate with characters was creative and especially made Bernadette's story more real.  The lighting effects were also well applied.
Despite all of these positive attributes, there was a sense of being lost and working to enjoy the play.  More often than not, the different plots were very difficult to follow. There was an obvious need to be familiar with the Biblical stories. This might have helped  make it easier to recognize the stories of the saints that the play was telling. Regardless, there was confusion.
The play was very poetic and not everything flowed logically because many elements of the play were surreal.  The surrealism does not lend itself to easy, enjoyable viewing.  The play was undoubtedly creative and challenging, but  the content of the play seems to have a narrow audience.
However, the lack of enjoyment in watching the play was not because the actors were devoid of talent. The commitment of the actors to their roles made the imaginary circumstances of the play more realistic. They deserve a great deal of applause for the obvious time and effort that was put in to making the production a success.  In particular, Jennifer Parades as Joan, Ryan Meredith as John and Daniel Bahena as Jim Thorpe were the performances that stood out.
This play requires audiences to do a lot of mental work to try and decipher the meaning of each piece. For the best possible experience it is crucial that one goes into the play with intellectual flexibility and an open mind.