DATE: Friday, November 14, 1997             TAG: 9711130258

SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON   PAGE: 10   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: THEATER REVIEW 

SOURCE: Montague Gammon  

                                            LENGTH:   75 lines

EVEN THE UNCHURCHED WOULD BE MOVED BY REGENT'S POTENT ``SAUL''

The familiar biblical tale of the prophet Samuel; Israel's first king, Saul; and the accession of King David is given a curiously potent dramatization in Regent University's show ``Saul, Sam and the Song and Dance Man.''

Whatever artistic reservations one may have about the techniques the work displays and its length, even the vociferously unchurched could be moved by the piece.

Either the place that familiar biblical stories hold in our culture and upbringing, or the profound sincerity with which the cast approaches the underlying questions of human versus divine guidance, or a combination of the two, gives the show its affecting quality. Certainly the script pursues nuances of the oft-told tale that provide more insight into the characters and their surrounding society than do the usual Sunday school retellings, with the unfortunate side-effect of making the play rather long.

The script and the music both owe some obvious debts to pieces ranging from Pirandello's ``Six Characters in Search of an Author'' to ``Godspell,'' and bear indications that more of the rehearsal energy went into creating the whole piece than into refining individual performances.

The show begins with a gathering of actors, summoned to a rehearsal without knowing what play they are going to do. They have no scripts, just biblical passages they received in the mail. They reveal a variety of attitudes toward the Bible, though oddly none seems to be a committed Christian.

Still, Charles Parker probably chose not to set up a sharp conflict of beliefs in the cast of his play-within-a-play to avoid obscuring the straightforward story with accusations that he was proselytizing, and that was probably a wise choice.

Under the guidance of a stage manager, who is quite sure of her authority and quite unbending when exercising it, the group falls into a dramatization of the events chronicled in 1 Samuel, chapters 8 through 31. The story is punctuated by a newscast, shown on several TV screens on the set, from the Bible News Network, which treats the political events in ancient Israel as they might be related today.

Jean Ladig plays the quiet, uncompromising Stage Manager quite effectively. Her role is written to be a parallel to that of the temporal rulers of old Israel. As her authority derives from an unseen director, so theirs derived from Yahweh.

Most of the ensemble members are listed only as Woman 1, Woman 2, Man 1 and so forth, since they are for the most part appearing as members of a chorus or a group of citizens. There is much to commend in the group's work and the individual performances are always competent and unforced.

Matt Merkel (Man 3) dominates the play as Samuel, the old prophet whose faith never wavers. Joshua Durkin (Man 4) plays Saul as a less-than-clever farm boy who grows into the office into which he has been placed.

Dustin Stacy (Man 1) plays David with the appropriate quiet acceptance and faith, Marsha Staples (Woman 1) is watchable in her featured role of a fortune teller, and like Lisa Neely (Woman 2) displays an especially strong voice.

Christopher Shane Fuller (Man 2) gets to stand out as a rabble-rouser and Eileen Boarman (Woman 3) brings a familiar comic touch to her appearances as a discontent citizen. Joleen Neighbors, costumed something like the TV character Xena, stands in for all of Israel's enemies in the part called ``Man with Sword.'' Producer Nicole Villacres is convincing as the BNN anchorperson.

The songs, with lyrics variously by Parker, Letha Holland-Deel and Tim Wright and music by Wright, Holland-Deel and Gary Spell, are all well integrated into the show and done well. Wright directed and Holland-Deel choreographed. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

WANT TO GO?

WHAT: ``Saul, Sam and the Song and Dance Man'' by Charles Parker

WHO: Regent University Theatre.

WHEN: 8 p.m. today and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday.

WHERE: Regent University Classroom Building, 1000 Regent

University Drive

TICKETS: 579-4245

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