Last week we performed the first play by Ex-inmate Theatre and I was pleasantly surprised to find the following online critique at http://adamsweb.us/blog/ :
Review: Ex-Inmate Theater Presents “Between Heaven and Hell”
This afternoon, I attended the last scheduled showing of the Ex-Inmates Theater Production of Peter Kreeft’s “Between Heaven and Hell.” As implied by the name, Ex-Inmates theater is produced mostly by former prison inmates and addicts. The program handed out at the door gave a general overview of candidate’s criminal histories, without going into all the details, though quite a few of them were drug offenders. The point was not to emphasize all they had done in the past, but that people with a past were putting on the production.
Overall, they put together a solid show from start to finish:
Writing
Between Heaven and Hell has been a favorite book of mine for years. I’ve often wondered what it would look like on a stage, yet few would dare to attempt it. It’s a deceptively easy story to put on, particularly as a reader’s theater. All you basically need are chairs, three male actors, and decent sound.
In practice, it’s much harder than that. The book, as written, amounts to three hours of three great men (C.S. Lewis, Alduous Huxley, and John F. Kennedy) arguing with each other about the Christ, which is of particular importance to those who remain seated in limbo through the whole debate.
Director Jon Ravenholt did a good job cutting the story down to a more reasonable size (1 hour, 40 minutes) and being sure to leave in the more human parts of the piece, where the writers talk about their works or their family. In the end, Ravenholt preserved the essence of the story, while making it watchable.
Still, enjoying the play does require a certain level of attention spam, as well as an ability to follow the logic of an argument that takes several detours as you watch it. There are certain folks for whom the play would not be enjoyable unless Lewis, Kennedy, and Huxley began throwing chairs at one another. I hope this isn’t too much of a spoiler, but that doesn’t happen.
The Acting
In the hands of the wrong cast, “Between Heaven and Hell” can become tedious, academic, and dull. However, Ravenholt (Lewis) and Co-stars J.J. Jacobsen (JFK) and Dennis Mansfield (Huxley.)
Ravenholt’s Lewis is as 3-dimensional portrayal as you’ll find. Lewis in the course of the debate runs the gammit of emotions. At different times he’s jovial, a master logician, sarcastic, exasperated, and even a little bit pushy. While, it may be unpleasant to some to see a Christian giant in that light, it’s refreshingly real and honest. Even Christ himself wasn’t as nice as some people say Christians need to be.
Jacobsen as JFK did a good job portraying the 35th President. Kennedy is perhaps the weakest of the three characters, as Kreeft originally wrote the story. As a politician, Kennedy is focused on feelings and what he does and doesn’t like, or the age of an argument being an argument against it. In the first half of the debate, the over-matched Kennedy spars with Lewis and is bested. In the second half, as Lewis’ and Huxley’s differing West v. East worldviews lead to an increasingly heady debate, Kennedy manages to bring the two Brits back on track.
Dennis Mansfield rounds out the cast as Huxley. His debating experience from the political arena shined through. Mansfield had perfect timing and played Huxley in a very sympathetic way.
Criticism
There wasn’t much to criticize here, other than Jacobsen and Mansfield occasionally losing their accents. This was a minor issue, but if you want something to pick at, this’ll do as good as anything.
However, other mistakes (which are bound to happen in a production like this) were handled with grace and dignity by the trio, so that it didn’t distract from the production.
Overall Thoughts
“Between Heaven and Hell” is a great introduction for those interested in apologetics, or how a logical debate functions. It also works well for those who enjoy good debates, provided they’re willing to wade through the weighty material.
The first production of Ex-Inmate Theater took a difficult story and succeeded in creating a well-crafted play. The Directorial and Acting talents of Jon Ravenholt were quite evident in this first work. I look forward to more from Ravenholt and the Ex-Inmate Theater.
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