Timely "Appeal" at the Cape Playhouse

By Libby Hughes

So much irony oozes from "Mass Appeal" at the Cape Playhouse in Dennis. It opens right after the momentous meeting of Catholic bishops in Dallas for the purpose of discussing sexual abuse of children by priests over the decades. For the past few months, America has been in emotional turmoil over these revelations. There is no way that Artistic Director Evans Haile could possibly have known this fact when he put together his summer repertoire of plays. And so, it comes as a timely, though tepid, issue from a play written over twenty years ago.

Twenty years ago, pedophilia in the priesthood was hardly a blip on the screen. Homosexuality and questions of women in the priesthood were only murmurs. But in the spring of 2002, the scandal about pedophiles broke into loud roars.

Playwright Bill C. Davis wrote "Mass Appeal" when he finished Emerson College in Boston. Gradually, the play made its way to the Manhattan Club in 1980 and then to the Booth Theatre on Broadway in 1981. The two character show opened to sensational reviews and eventually became a movie, starring Jack Lemmon. Davis, whose father was Jewish and mother was Irish, spent 12 years in Catholic schools. He draws upon personal experience, giving the play pithy realism and plenty of humor.

Essentially, the play is about a rebellious young seminarian, who challenges the establishment of the Catholic Church. Mark Dolson fences with Father Tim Farley over the church's peccadilloes. The old guard reacts violently against these youthful challenges. The young priest is about to be thrown out of the seminary because he is too hot to handle. But the older priest finds the young man refreshing. As Father Farley tries to instruct the troublemaker, the two priests exchange personal bits of information about their lives. In the end, the old priest becomes more honest and the young man becomes less recalcitrant.

As the tippling old priest, Malachy McCourt (brother of writer Frank McCourt) is like a comfortable old shoe on stage. He rolls his "r's" in true Irish fashion. His blowhard priest is endearing and engaging. When he opens the liquor cabinet behind the pious picture of Christ, the audience chuckles. McCourt never overdoes his drunken scenes--a real art.

Television star, Jason Wiles from "Third Watch," brings a macho interpretation to Mark Dolson. His sermons grow from strident adolescence to those of a potential preacher. His gradual transformation from an obnoxious kid to a mentor to the elder priest has some moving moments. Along the way, we learn that Dolson has sown sexual oats with both sexes during his wilderness period and is truthful in acknowledging these prodigal exploits.

Kudos go to scenic designer Richard Chambers for his modernized stained glass windows, solitary pulpit, and baroque study in the St. Francis Church. They symbolize the old versus the new. Michael J. Patterson's lighting design adds emotion and mood to the play. And director Pamela Hunt draws the best out of both actors.

A local Cape playwright has also explored some of the same issues in the Protestant ministry in a play called "Sex Under the Collar."

For an evening of colorful humor and provocative questions, "Mass Appeal" is a worthy play choice at the Cape Playhouse.

Above photos: Malachy McCourt (Father Farley) chastises Jason Wiles (Mark Dolson) for his radical views against the Catholic Church.

Libby Hughes is an author, editor, playwright and lyricist. She free-lanced for major newspapers in Africa and Asia. For ten years, Ms. Hughes was a drama critic and feature writer for a chain of newspapers on Cape Cod. She edited Ginger Rogers' autobiography and won the Maxwell Anderson Playwrights Series in 1984. In 1999 Hughes won a Cape-wide contest for her play, "Sin in the Attic," performed at the Chatham Drama Guild over First Night. She was a major contest winner of Boston's New Opera and Musical Theatre Initiative (NOMTI) in 2000 for her book and lyrics for "Pasta and Curry." Her books have been published by Silver Burdett of Simon & Schuster, Genesis Press, and iUniverse.com . She is listed in the "Who's Who of American Women" and the "World Who's Who of Women."

Hughes lives on Cape Cod with her two Rhodesian Ridgebacks, writing books, plays, and musicals; and reviewing music, theatre and dance online for Cape Cod Today.com. Visit her web site at http://capecodtravel.com/libbyhughes For comments or questions, send an e-mail to LibHughes@aol.com.