Everything is Wonderful by Chelsea Marcantel. Philadelphia Theatre Company at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre through March 8, 2020.
Good intentions do not guarantee a positive outcome. That homily is appropriate here, because we’re discussing a play that tries to educate us about a righteous and pedantic religious group. It turns out to be an old-fashioned melodrama of a woman betrayed and scorned, wrapped inside a Sunday-school lesson.
The Philadelphia Theatre Company is in the midst of a season devoted to the work of female playwrights. That, of course, is a worthy goal. But Everything is Wonderful is a tedious treatise.
Chelsea Marcantel’s script shows us an Amish family; a father, mother, two daughters and two sons, coping with the death of those two young men. Noah Himmelstein directs with aplomb, and most of the cast are fine; it’s the script that’s the problem.
The one effective point is its portrayal of a man who takes advantage of a woman and, when she complains, he decides the correct action is to go to his church elders and “confess,” thus getting absolution while the woman is disowned by the community. This outrageous example of male entitlement is dramatic and pertinent.
Even if we give this man the benefit of doubts, and conclude that he meant well with his confession, he surely did not consider the harm that his action would cause. At the end of the play, he does an abrupt about-face and asks forgiveness. I can’t buy it.
Otherwise, the play slogs, with stereotypical types rather than real people. After the two sons were killed by a drunken driver, the family takes in the apologetic driver. They act only because it’s a duty and clearly resent him, yet he reacts like a puppy dog and embraces everything about this new religion. J Hernandez is an accomplished actor but he’s over-the-top and unbelievable in this role.
William Zielinski brings dignity — and a wooly Amish accent — to the cliche role of a pious elder who chooses church tradition over the protection of his own daughter. Blair Sams acts with more humankindness but is unconvincing as a wife and mother.
Katie Kleiger strives to give credibility to the ex-communicated character named Miri who grew up in this household yet speaks as if she’s from a different planet. She comes back to the family home for the funeral of her brothers, but she’s barred from attending. The family makes her stay in the barn and won’t even feed her. So why doesn’t she turn around and leave immediately? Thus her character, with whom we’d like to relate, forfeits all empathy.
Lucky Gretzinger is fine as the hunky lug who betrayed his fiancee, while Stephanie Hodge is a simplistic younger daughter. Janus Stefanowicz’s costumes and Daniel Ettinger’s rustic design of the barn look authentic.
During the unfolding of this sanctimony, the script prattles about such things as Ordnung (rules of discipline), without making its meaning clear to the audience. Even the educational aim of the play fails to fulfill.
To see a review of a much better recent play by a female, click here/