''Resurrection Blues'' (2002) is
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are ''All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...
's penultimate
play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* P ...
. Though Miller was not known for his humor, this play uses a pointed comedic edge to intensify his observations about the dangers, as well as the benefits, of blind belief: political, religious, economic and emotional.
Plot
The story is set in an unnamed Latin American country that is painfully
third world
The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...
. The plot revolves around a captured prisoner who may or may not be the
second coming of Christ, though Miller deliberately leaves the divinity of his unseen protagonist ambiguous. He is said to be able to perform miracles such as walk through walls, a major problem for the prison guards, and, because of his popularity among the impoverished citizens, the military
dictator
A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in tim ...
of the nation has sentenced him to be
crucified
Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...
. This creates many moral dilemmas with the play's cast of characters, which include a wealthy land-owner who is the cousin of the dictator, his depressed daughter—a close friend of the accused—and an American television production team that arrives to broadcast the crucifixion.
Characters
The plot has six central characters:
* General Felix Barriaux – the dictator of the country who orders the crucifixion. For a dictator, he is a poignant and witty character who holds some sympathy for the audience despite his obsession with money and power. He has been played by actors ranging from Munson Hicks to
Maximilian Schell.
* Henri Schultz – cousin to Felix and owns a large chain of pharmaceutical companies, but is reluctant to be a businessman and retires to teach philosophy. He once joined a revolutionary group to fight against Felix but it was unsuccessful. Ironically there is still a familial bond of friendship between Felix and himself and he spends the play trying to dissuade Felix from the crucifixion. He has been played by
James Fox
William Fox (born 19 May 1939), known professionally as James Fox, is an English actor. He appeared in several notable films of the 1960s and early 1970s, including '' King Rat'', '' The Servant'', ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' and ''Performan ...
to Patrick Husted.
* Jeanine Schultz – daughter of Henri, she is a modern form of
Mary Magdalene as she is in love with the man about to be crucified and opens the play having tried to commit suicide. She too was caught up with the revolution but when her father gave up, she held on to the spirit her comrades were shot by Felix when they were captured, but she was spared. She has been played by Patricia Ageheim to
Neve Campbell
Neve Adrianne Campbell (born October 3, 1973; ) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her work in the drama and horror genres. She has appeared on ''People'' magazine's list of "50 Most Beautiful People" twice.
Following a series of minor ...
.
* Skip L. Cheesboro – the producer of the American television special that is to be made about the crucifixion. He is a no-nonsense man who, in his own words, admits that "some of us have to be shallow so others can be deep." He has been played by Doug Wert to
Matthew Modine
Matthew Avery Modine (born March 22, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker, who rose to prominence through his role as U.S. Marine Private/Sergeant J.T. "Joker" Davis in ''Full Metal Jacket''. His other film roles include the title character ...
.
* Emily Shapiro – the TV special's director who is, at the beginning of the play, unaware of the crucifixion. It is suggested that a relationship with Skip may have existed but when she finds out about the crucifixion, she is shocked and repulsed by Skip for even suggesting filming it. She then has a relationship with Felix whom she begs to call off the crucifixion. She is seen to be the voice of reason within the play and has been played by Gretchen Egolf to
Jane Adams.
* Stanley – a disciple to the prisoner and is interrogated by Felix when he escapes. A self-proclaimed hippie, he addresses the approachability of 'Christ' saying that he himself in unsure whether he is Christ or not. He produces a lot of wit at the same time as introducing new ideas. He has been played by Douglas Rees to Peter McDonald.
Other characters include the filming crew, an omnipresent military and the captain of the police who is respectful of Henri Schultz because of his wealth.
Production history
There was originally a reading that Jerry Zaks directed so that Miller could see what he had. The cast included
Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane (born Joseph Lane; February 3, 1956) is an American actor. In a career spanning over 40 years he has been seen on stage and screen in roles both comedic and dramatic. Lane has received numerous awards including three Tony Awards, ...
as Felix Barreaux,
Bill Murray
William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on '' Saturday Nig ...
as Skip Cheeseboro,
Julia-Louis Dreyfus as Emily, and
Richard Libertini
Richard Joseph Libertini (May 21, 1933 – January 7, 2016) was an American stage, film and television actor.
He was known for playing character roles and his ability to speak in numerous accents. His films include ''Catch-22'' (1970), '' The I ...
.
World premiere in Minneapolis
''Resurrection Blues'' originally premiered August 9, 2002, at the
Guthrie Theater in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, under the artistic direction of
Joe Dowling
Joe Dowling (born 27 September 1948) is an artistic director. He was artistic director for the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. He is known for his work as artistic director of the Abbey Theatre in Ireland and his produc ...
. This world premiere was directed by Minnesota native David Esbjornson. The cast featured
John Bedford Lloyd
John Bedford Lloyd (born January 2, 1956) is an American character actor.
Life and career
Lloyd was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of Ann Storrs Lloyd and Edward B. Lloyd of Southport, Connecticut. His father was an architect.
He has a s ...
as General Felix Barreaux,
Jeff Weiss
Jeffrey Weiss (April 30, 1940 – September 18, 2022) was an American playwright, impresario, and actor, both on Broadway and a theater he ran with partner Ricardo Martinez in the East Village, Manhattan.
Early life and education
Weiss grew up i ...
, and
Laila Robins
Laila Robins is an American stage, film and television actress. She has appeared in films including ''Planes, Trains and Automobiles'' (1987), '' An Innocent Man'' (1989), ''Live Nude Girls'' (1995), ''True Crime'' (1999), ''She's Lost Control'' ...
. Arthur Miller chose the Guthrie Theater for the play's debut, citing the quality of its audiences and the outdatedness of premiering a play on Broadway. Miller continued to work on the script up until his death in 2005 although the Minneapolis production of the original script fared far better than the later production at the
Old Vic
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
*Old, Baranya, Hungary
*Old, Northamptonshire, England
* Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...
in London.
Philadelphia
The East Coast premiere of ''Resurrection Blues'' debuted at the
Wilma Theater in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
on September 2, 2003. The production was directed by Jiri Zizka. The cast featured Munson Hicks, Patrick Husted, Lindsay Smiling,
Gretchen Egolf
Gretchen Egolf (born September 9, 1973) is an American theater, film and television actress.
Early life and education
Egolf was born and raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She is the daughter of artist Paula Egolf and stepfather Gary Egolf. Her ...
, Doug Wert, William Zielinski, Miriam A. Hyman, Patricia Ageheim, Douglas Rees, Jennifer A. Brown, David Dallas, Patrick Doran, Ralph Edmonds, Karen McArthur, and Michael Speer.
San Diego
The West Coast premiere was presented at the
Old Globe Theatre
The Old Globe is a professional theatre company located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons. Plays are performed in three separate theatres in the complex, which i ...
in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
, California, running in March 2004 to April 25.
Directed by
Mark Lamos
Mark Lamos (born March 10, 1946) is an American theatre and opera director, producer and actor. Under his direction, Hartford Stage won the 1989 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre and he has been nominated for two other Tonys. He is n ...
the cast featured
John de Lancie
John Sherwood de Lancie, Jr. (born March 20, 1948) is an American actor, director, producer, writer, and comedian, best known for his role as Q in various ''Star Trek'' series (1987–present); beginning with '' Star Trek: The Next Generation ...
as Felix Barriaux,
Daniel Davis
Daniel Davis (born November 26, 1945) is an American film, stage and television actor.
Davis is best known for portraying Niles the butler on the sitcom ''The Nanny'' (1993 to 1999), and for his two guest appearances as Professor Moriarty on ...
,
Chris Henry Coffey, Bruce Bohne, Dana Slamp and Jennifer Regan.
[Shirley, Don]
"Miller's satire falls shy of redemption"
''Los Angeles Times'', March 27, 2004 The ''Los Angeles Times'' reviewer wrote: "...the play is still flailing in several directions and not wholly achieving its goals...The proposed crucifixion victim appears only as a glowing light. Despite eyewitness accounts of his human form, he may be divine or at least an inspired figment of the imagination, Miller suggests. He must decide whether to be crucified or to disappear. This is an interesting tangent, but it further removes the play from the nitty-gritty of the political realities that drove Miller to write. His continuing sense of adventure at age 88 is awe-inspiring, but the play itself isn't."
[
Miller worked with the director and cast through the rehearsal process to find a more straightforward message than in the previous production.
]
London
The UK premiere was in March 2006 under the artistic direction of Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles before gaining a leading man status in film and television. Spacey has received various accolade ...
at the Old Vic
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
*Old, Baranya, Hungary
*Old, Northamptonshire, England
* Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...
. The play was directed by Robert Altman. The play suffered mass criticism despite boasting a "distinguished"[ cast that included ]James Fox
William Fox (born 19 May 1939), known professionally as James Fox, is an English actor. He appeared in several notable films of the 1960s and early 1970s, including '' King Rat'', '' The Servant'', ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' and ''Performan ...
, Maximilian Schell, Jane Adams (Emily) and Neve Campbell
Neve Adrianne Campbell (born October 3, 1973; ) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her work in the drama and horror genres. She has appeared on ''People'' magazine's list of "50 Most Beautiful People" twice.
Following a series of minor ...
. It was forced to close early especially after the actress playing Emily (the American film director) left the production. Spacey said the cast suffered from "nerves the like of which I've never seen".
Charles Spencer, reviewing for ''The Telegraph'' noted that "Miller was apparently revising the play right up to his death last year, after two earlier drafts had flopped in the States."[Spencer, Charles]
"A Miller’s tale that’s beyond resurrection"
''The Telegraph'', 3 March 2006
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' reviewer observed: "Between the relentless public attention and the sometimes scathing reviews, Kevin Spacey has had a rough year and a half as artistic director at the Old Vic Theater. But nothing was so disastrous as the debacle surrounding 'Resurrection Blues,' a star-laden production that drew horrendous reviews and closed a week early this spring, just in time for the announcement that the theater would go dark until September."
Actors' fund reading
An independent theatre company called ''Fancy Bred Theatre'' produced a special reading of ''Resurrection Blues'' as a fundraiser for the Actors' Fund of Canada, in February 2009, in Winnipeg, Canada. The reading was staged in a very physically animated style, and it ran for three nights before 180 people. The production, featuring many well-known professional local artists, focused mainly on the comedy and absurdities of the script. Audience reception was overall very positive, and the production was a great success. Some audience members even mentioned that the wordy script worked much better in a reading than in a fully mounted show.
The reading was directed by Rodrigo Beilfuss. The cast included Sarah Constible, Michelle Boulet, Omar Khan, Toby Hughes, James Johnston, and Cory Wojcik.
Chicago
The Eclipse Theatre Company produced the Chicago debut of ''Resurrection Blues'' as part of its 2010 season, which focused on Arthur Miller. Eclipse Theatre, known for its "one playwright, one season" approach, also mounted ''After the Fall'' and ''A Memory of Two Mondays
''A Memory of Two Mondays'' is a one-act play by Arthur Miller. He began writing the play in 1952, while working on '' The Crucible'', and completed it in 1955. Based on Miller's own experiences, the play focuses on a group of desperate workers ...
''. Their fully staged production of the play was directed by Nathaniel Swift and featured Nina O'Keefe, Ron Butts, Matt Welton, Joe McCauley, Rebecca Prescott, and J. P. Pierson. Reviewer Paige Listerud wrote, "A little miracle is taking place at the Greenhouse Theatre Center—Eclipse Theatre is brilliantly executing a late and oft misunderstood play by Arthur Miller .""Review Roundup. 'Resurrection Blues' at Eclipse Theatre Company at The Greenhouse Theater Center"
theatreinchicago.com, accessed April 8, 2016
References
See also
* Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are ''All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...
{{The Works of Arthur Miller
2002 plays
Plays by Arthur Miller