Volume 2, Issue 19 August 31 - September 13, 2000

"There's an art to twisting souls..." Yes. And there's an art to bringing the wretchedly beautiful ambiance of Hell to stage. Don Becker's LUCIFER TONITE opened at The Bug Theatre August 13. Twisted landscapes, both physical and interior, are the central theme of this play. But somewhere between Lucifer's wrenching soliloquies and the brutal reality realized by the audience via the lines lies an almost perfect beauty. Perhaps it is this beauty-- revealed between slow folds of grotesqueness in Lucifer's account of human history-- that is the real theme.

There are no curtains. Like Lucifer's heart, the stage stands bare to the audience's scrutiny from the moment they enter the theater. Buckets of mannequin arms punctuate television screens that waver between '40's news footage and droning static snow. Heart monitors string out electric waves of flat lines near a gurney reminiscent of the sometimes abortive results of modern science. A smilingly silent serving girl-- the Angel Gabriel-- tends the blackened tiki bar in an embodiment of innocence perpetually subject to rape. Thus is set the stage of Hell.

Nils Kiehn walks a tight rope swinging the balance of the character from suave to brutal, eloquent to insane, and for the entire show he keeps the audience leaning towards the stage, tottering on the brink of the long fall into nothingness. Klein and the script collaborate to take the audience from the story of Adam and Eve-- where "Sex was like a Methodist handshake"-- to a Lettermanlike parody of Moses reading the Ten Commandments. By far though, the most intriguing and moving scene is when Lucifer portrays with utter poignancy and beauty Jesus' 40 days in the desert. Lucifer reveals the many ways he tried to triumph over Jesus while Klein adeptly fields every acting technique in the books to drift effortlessly and convincingly between the characters of Lucifer and Jesus. This is a riveting and poignant performance by an extremely capable actor.

The play, originally performed by author/ comedian Don Becker, was inspired by Blake's "Marriage of Heaven and Hell." Becker's affinity with Blake runs deep. Becker told me that Blake died on August 12, the same day that Becker lost his arm during a little runin with a train. Is it any wonder that the play opened August 13? Not likely. August 13 is also the birthday shared by all three actors who have played the role of Lucifer. If that's not enough to raise the hackles on the back of your neck, go see the play.

--Cilicia A. Yakhlef