Combine philosophical wars in 12th-century France, a passionate love story, and a bit of testicle chopping, and the result is
In Extremis: The Story of Abelard and Heloise - the latest production from McGill's Drama and Theatre program. It's Howard Brenton's thought-provoking, comical, and captivating play about the lovers Abelard and Heloise, who are caught in a war between the conservative rhetoric of the age and the desire for change, reason, and most of all, love.
Directed by Professor Sean Carney,
In Extremis tells the story of the philosophically-minded Peter Abelard (Bryn Dewar), who opens a new school of Aristotelian and dialectic learning against the fabric of a fundamentalist society, and falls in love with his equally radically-minded student Heloise (Bea Hutcheson). Under the pretext of "private tutoring," the two begin a sexual love affair, made all the more illicit by the fact that Heloise's uncle and surrogate father Fulbert (Charles Harries), is a canon at Notre Dame.
When Abelard's progressive philosophies become famous - he becomes a subject of interest for King Louis VI (Fraser Dickson), and zealous advocates of the Catholic Church like Bernard of Clairvaux (Michael Ruderman) - his steamy love affair with Heloise becomes infamous. Having sex everywhere and anywhere, Abelard and Heloise turn a pious milieu into anything but. And when Bernard's uncouth lackeys (played with comedic virtuosity by Josh Tal and Marshall Zuern) get a hold of the scandal, they stop at nothing to expose the lovers, and make them pay for attempting to reverse the status quo.
Medieval context aside, this play is thoroughly modern in its language and its sensibilities. Connoting the Latin phrase for 'in the farthest reaches,'
In Extremis grapples with human limitations and boundaries. While asserting reason over faith in modern society would hardly cause a stir, the larger questions asked by the play are timeless: where do we draw the line between faith and fundamentalism? Between passion and hedonism? To what extent are we willing to go in order to fight for what we believe in? And perhaps most importantly, what do we believe in, if anything at all?
Many of the characters' assertions can be easily applied to our own time. When Peter attempts to combat Bernard's fundamentalist means of understanding God by asserting that, "He gave us language, and in language, reason," Brenton invites the audience to understand something about their own society: addressing the problems of taking religious dogma too far, and of citing rationality as a reason for abandoning faith. Abelard's later supplication, "Don't let the darkness fall on the minds of men," reminds us that even - perhaps especially - in this more modern age, we are still subject to darkness and to error, and Heloise's consistent refusal to conform to the oppressive norms of medieval marriage opens up contemporary discourses on issues of femininity.
In this rendition of the play, passionate, sultry, and scandalous moments are matched by equally quirky, comedic, and hilarious ones. Brenton takes the audience into a world of self-immolating monks, gossiping peasants, giggling nuns, and a multitude of drunken buffoons. This pleasing balance of libidinousness, solemnity, and conviviality would be implausible if not for the genuinely striking acting chops of McGill's Drama students. As William of Champeaux, Abelard's vehemently orthodox teacher from whom he breaks and opens a new school, Spencer Malthouse delivers a brief, yet memorable, sidesplitting performance. Both Dewar and Hutcheson handle their demanding roles with grace, honesty, and professionalism. Harries, strangely believable as a medieval cleric, displays an impressive sense of comedic timing and character acting, while Ruderman is similarly convincing as a steadfast monk. The other members of the ensemble seamlessly inhabit multiple roles, and are instrumental to the overall success of the performance.
Furthermore, Carney's direction exhibits not only a first-rate sense of comedic timing, but also a thorough understanding of how to create theatric affects. He demonstrates Moyse Hall's full potential by displaying parts of the action on the staircases alongside the audience, and allows French Troubadour melodies to punctuate the blackouts in between scenes.
And unlike many of the other plays performed by McGill Drama,
In Extremis was actually written for students to perform. In this sense, then, the issues explored are not only applicable to modern times, but relatable for an audience of university students. As Carney notes, "Who better to embody the energy, idealism and commitment at the heart of the drama than a generation of young adults who have not yet been asked to compromise their own ideals by the cynicism of the modern world?"
In Extremis will leave you on the edge of your seat if not because you can't wait to see what's going to happen next, then simply because the writing is so artful, the banter so snappy, and the acting so dead on.
In Extremis: The Story of Abelard and Heloise
plays at Moyse Hall, November 25-28 at 7:30 p.m.
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Valerie
posted 1/06/10 @ 3:00 AM EST
Sounds like a wonderful production of a play about a subject (Abelard and Heloise) I am very interested in, I wish I had the chance to see this production. (Continued…)
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