Sick of football? Flip a coin, see real ‘Carnage’ or ‘Mary Magdalene,’ Greater Morristown matinees, Nov. 6

'God of Carnage,' left, and 'Divining Mary Magdalene,' both conclude their Greater Morristown runs on Nov. 6, 2022.
0

 

If football’s not your cup of tea, you have some great matinee options on stages in Greater Morristown this Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022.

It’s your last chance to catch I am the utterance of my name: Divining Mary Magdalene at the Morris Museum’s Bickford Theatre in Morris Township (2 pm) and God of Carnage at the Morristown United Methodist Church (3 pm).

The productions are not quite as religious as they sound. Here are our takes on both, in the order that they will play on Sunday.

 

We don’t know how to love her:
A deep dive into the mythical, magical Mary Magdalene

 

For the married team of Sylvia Milo and Nathan Davis, I am the utterance of my name: Divining Mary Magdalene, which concludes its weekend premiere run at the Morris Museum’s Bickford Theatre in Morris Township at 2 pm Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022, was six years in the making.

That’s because Mary Magdalene’s story has been evolving for two millennia. The couple’s avant-garde production attempts to convey the saga’s many threads in a swirling 90-minute multimedia melange of dance, music and video.

Sylvia Milo in ‘The utterance of my name: Divining Mary Magdalene,’ at the Morris Museum’s Bickford Theatre, November 2022.

Drawing from the New Testament, the Gnostic Gospels, Renaissance paintings and even Patti Smith lyrics, Divining Mary Magadalene serves familiar Biblical depictions of Mary–beloved disciple of Jesus, there at the crucifixion, first to witness the resurrection–with lesser known versions.

There is the folkloric hermit in a French cave. And Mary as apostle. And companion of Jesus, as his wife, as the female half of the divine.

Mary the Sinner, the prostitute, we are told, is a sixth-century invention of Pope Gregory, whose one-homily takedown cemented male dominance of the church that endures to this day.

Sylvia Milo as ‘The Other Mozart’

For the Polish actress Milo, the role is more physically demanding than her 2019 tour de force Bickford performance as Wolfgang’s sister in The Other Mozart.

As Mary Magdalene, she wails and sings and dances, and even invites women from the audience onstage to meditate and share their visions of this iconic chameleon.

The script is Milo’s, and the music, recorded and live on hammer dulcimer and water bowl, is by Davis. Monica Duncan is responsible for dazzling videos projected on and behind Milo.

If you are expecting reverent theology, Divining Mary Magdalene will disappoint. But if you’re feeling adventurous, a provocative, immersive theatrical experience beckons at the Bickford–if you hurry. — Kevin Coughlin

I am the utterance of my name: Divining Mary Magdalene, 2 pm at the Morris Museum’s Bickford Theatre, Nov. 6, 2022. Tickets: $20-$35.  At 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morris Towship, (973) 971-3700.

Parents will be parents: ‘Carnage’ in Cobble Hill

 

One stick, two broken teeth, a hamster and a cell phone add up to a combustible comedy in God of Carnage, which concludes its run at the Morristown United Methodist Church with a 3 pm show on Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022.

Four actors take the stage for 90 minutes, plunging the audience right into the story. It takes place in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn. Veronica and Michael (a hardware store owner) have invited Annette and Alan (an attorney) over to discuss the fight between their pre-teen sons in the park.

‘God of Carnage’: From left: Jon Beeler, Miriam Salerno, Leslie Darcy and Tom Olori. Photo Penguin Moon Studios.

Benjy smashed Henry with a stick and damaged two teeth. They strive to be sensible, but Veronica is seething on behalf of her injured son.

It doesn’t take long before zingers are flying, and that’s when things get really funny. Alliances change in the blink of an eye. At first the couples face off against each other, then wives begin to attack their husbands, then each other.

Benjy and Henry, the boys who are the reason for all the fuss, never appear. The hamster has a brief video cameo–but that’s another story.

The fast-moving dialogue is punctuated by the incessant ringing of Alan’s cell phone, which he answers no matter what else is taking place. Annette, his wife, throws up all over Veronica’s precious book collection on the cocktail table. Alan just keeps talking.

Everybody calms down enough to have a drink. The women have a little too much and almost come to blows with each other, lashing out at their husbands along the way. Dirty laundry is hung out to dry with dark humor that enthralled Broadway audiences and won the Tony Award for Best Play of 2009.

‘GOD OF CARNAGE’: Miriam Salerno and Jon Beeler. Photo by Penguin Moon Studios.

The original cast of God of Carnage included Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden. All four were nominated for Tony Awards, and Harden won for Best Leading Actress in a Play.

They have nothing on the current cast, with outstanding performances by Morristown resident Jon Beeler (Alan), Miriam Salerno (Annette), Leslie Darcy (Veronica) and Tom Olori (Michael), members of Pioneer Productions, a New Jersey nonprofit theater group established in 2003.

Pioneer co-founder Shanna Levine-Phelps of Livingston directs the carnage, the troupe’s 17th production.

The cell phone comes to an unfortunate end, and Alan, trying to navigate an office crisis, is devastated.

Has the bickering gone too far? Is reconciliation a possibility? Michael, the hardware guy, attempts a rescue. Can parents stop acting like children?  You’ll have to see for yourself. — Marion Filler

God of Carnage, 3 pm at Fellowship Hall in the Morristown United Methodist Church, Nov. 6, 2022. Tickets: $25. At 50 S. Park Place.

Want more choices? Florence and Mojo, two one-act plays by Alice Childress, a Pulitzer-nominated African American playwright, are at Madison’s Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey at 2 pm and 7:30 pm. You’ve got more time to catch this production; it runs through Nov. 13, 2022. Tickets: $39-$69. Runs through Nov. 13, 2022. At Drew University, 36 Madison Ave., 973-408-5600.

If you’ve read this far… you clearly value your local news. Now we need your help to keep producing the local coverage you depend on! More people are reading Morristown Green than ever. But costs keep rising. Reporting the news takes time, money and hard work. We do it because we, like you, believe an informed citizenry is vital to a healthy community.

So please, CONTRIBUTE to MG or become a monthly SUBSCRIBER. ADVERTISE on Morristown Green. LIKE us on Facebook, FOLLOW us on Twitter, and SIGN UP for our newsletter.

LEAVE A REPLY