Epic works are easier to turn into film scripts than into stage plays, but British playwright Simon Bent managed to turn John Irving's almost 700 page novel into a very workable two and one-half hour drama. The RNT staged the piece to great acclaim in June 2002, and the Playmakers, the professional company at Chapel Hill, opened their 2003 season with this shorter version tailored for American audiences. Stoneham's production is a New England premiere and while fans of the novel may find some of the action too condensed, those unfamiliar with this story which covers almost forty years will find it compelling and may be encouraged to read the original.
Predictably "A Prayer for Owen Meany" hinges on the actor playing the title role, and in New Yorker Ken Schatz Stoneham has found a riveting performer, at once repellent and intriguing. One can understand why John Wheelwright, played by Timothy Smith from the Sacred Heart faculty became friends with "the boy with the wrecked voice, the smallest person he ever knew." And the religious puzzle this odd young person becomes may haunt the audience as much as it does John Wheelwright, self-exiled to Canada, recounting the tale years later. Schatz creates an unforgettable character, realizing both Bent and Irving's intentions.
Director Weylin Symes has assembled an impressive ensemble to support the two boys as they mature from middle school to college age. John's rich grandmother, proud of her New England heritage, is played by Ann Marie Shea, a retired Worcester State professor seen this fall at BPT in Dan Hunter's "Red Elm." Her wheelchair-bound cook is done by Bobbie Steinbach, fresh from Maria in ASP's "Twelfth Night." Caitlin Lowans, Stoneham's education director who just directed "A Christmas Story" there, is John's singer mother, Tabitha, a free spirit who Owen kills with the only line drive he's ever been able to hit. Owen Doyle, seen this fall as Seward in Stoneham's "Dracula" and regularly at the Publick Theatre is Owen's stonecutter father, while Sharon Mason, seen for various other theaters is his mother. Peripetatic character lead David Arum plays John's kindly stepfather, Dan.
The play's religious argument about faith and doubt, as in the novel, involves Reverend Merrill, the town of Gravesend's Congregational minister. played by newcomer Jon. L. Egging and Stephen Russell from W.H.A.T. as Rector Wiggins, a breezy Episcopalian and a former airline pilot. The Rector's wife, Barb, a former stewardess who, of course, now runs the Sunday school is played by Lisa Tucker. Russell also doubles at Dr. Dolder, the school psychiatrist. Floyd Richardson, just seen in TheatreZone's "Firebugs" triples as the eccentric Mr. Fish plus the police chief and Owen's senior officer at the end of the play. The four ensemble members who fill various roles are Cory Scott, who ultimately becomes Owen's nemesis, Gerald Slattery--another Publick Theatre veteran--who starts by bullying Owen and winds up playing his school's new progressive head master, plus Christine Hamel and Cristi Miles, who play school girls, nuns, and various wives and mothers. Hamel was seen in "Proof" at TheatreZone; Miles just did many roles in the New Rep's "A Christmas Carol." This ensemble is an excellent cross-section of the talent available in the Boston area.
The show is presented on a simple unit set designed by Audra Avery and realized with help from Jenna McFarland. Its plain black background uses scrims as well and the gray arc of platforms has a surprising center unit. Props and furniture are minimal but sufficient. Seth Bodie has created at set of costumes which allow the cast to shift from the late '50s to the '80s, and back again, as John tries to make sense of his friend Owen's life and death. Gianni Downs' skillful lighting keeps the action flowing, as the scenes and years overlap. David Wilson's soundscape helps in the same fashion. The result is one of the best productions seen at Stoneham, which has set itself a high standard in the past.
Irving's novel is a difficult book to say the least. Somewhat autobiographical, it also clearly intends to seriously explore the complex religious traditions in New England, both Protestant and Catholic, as well as the existence of God. Bent has nicely condensed the action while keeping the style of the novel. He's eliminated several incidents and characters while focusing on Owen, and always in the background, John. Schatz makes the biggest initial impression, but Smith's modulated expression of John's inner conflicts will last as well. It says something about an successful adaptation, and its direction, when the presentation generates the desire to reread the original to rediscover its subtle complexities. Bent's only obvious replacement is to replace John's diatribes against the Reagan administration with Owen doing a standup routine, in a natural voice and with a hint of Lenny Bruce, about religionists taking over the American government.