BWW Reviews: HOW TO WRITE A NEW BOOK FOR THE BIBLE Makes East Coast Premiere at Round House Theatre

As playwright Bill Cain points out, writers often turn to what they know for source material. His largely autobiographical play, How to Write a New Book for the Bible, demonstrates that this approach to writing can lead to fruitful results. Although this family drama - which is making its East Coast Premiere at Round House Theatre - can teeter on the edge of being slightly overwrought and schmaltzy at times, it is ultimately emotionally resonant thanks to Cain's deep personal connection and strong writing. Much of the success of the Round House production, lightly directed by Producing Artistic Director Ryan Rilette, can also be attributed to a universally strong cast, which is extraordinarily believable as an ordinary family unit.

When we meet writer/priest Bill Cain (Ray Ficca) he's putting together a film script based on his personal diary. His strong-willed mother, Mary, (Marybeth Wise) has just succumbed to cancer at her home in Syracuse, NY. Bill spent many of Mary's final days with her having returned home from New York City to the small town world of Central New York (an area - he laments - lacking in appropriate bookstores and entertainment) to care for her. He's been down this road before having lost his father, Pete (a strong Mitchell Hébert), to the disease. Through a series of mostly non-linear flashbacks and asides to the audience (no fourth wall here), we learn more about Mary - the glue that held his family together - as well as how she and the rest of the family (including his all-American brother Paul, charmingly played by Danny Gavigan), have shaped how Bill thinks about family, life, and love.

We see ordinary family experiences - moments of sibling rivalry, illness, and personal career successes and failures - through Cain's lens as both a religious and intellectually creative man. His story, like Biblical ones, has something to say about humanity. He suggests that although these stories may not offer rules to live by, they still can shape how one sees the world and internalize experiences in it.

The unique structure of Cain's play lends itself to explore the idea that the familial experience does not simply equate to experiencing a series of events that lead to another. One cannot fully appreciate the entirety of a life with loved ones if one simply considers a single event. Many events - regardless of the order in which they occur - are defining experiences in the life of any family. We won't remember the order in which the important events occur, but the impact they had and what they taught us. Time is not the only feature that binds one event to another, especially in our recollections. Cain's play then offers a collage of pictures of his life - not a complete collage - but one that's complete enough to tell us who he is and how his family has shaped his own self-identity and world view.

As this play is more of a purpose-driven collage of recollections than anything else, I am less apt to chock this piece up to 'yet another play about a parent dying.' In Cain's case, the life (and death) of the parent in this play is a deeply personal one. His tender yet realistic treatment of the subject matter - in addition to his emphasis on the fact that the death, though life-altering, is but one moment in the life of his family and not the only thing he thinks about when he thinks of his mother - is one of the reasons why I can overlook some of the schmaltzier and overwrought scenes depicting his mother's final moments.

The actors, likewise, thankfully ensure we don't teeter too much toward Lifetime Movie-territory as they embody the fully-dimensional characters on Daniel Conway's sparse set. Wise gives one of the most moving portrayals of a strong mother I've seen in recent years. She perfectly balances comedy with drama and is fearless in portraying this ordinary woman. Her strong chemistry with Hébert, Ficca and Gavigan allows for this family drama to be carried out in a natural and realistic way.

Ficca is unafraid of showing a range of emotions and captures Cain's witty, oddball, creative spirit. When paired with Wise, he particularly rises to the occasion and meets her match. Although he can be cloying and preachy at times - particularly in his monologues and the scenes where he's tasked to play younger - his performance is quite strong overall and memorable.

While Rilette's staging is far from innovative, and can be at times monotonous, his direction allows the strength of the material and the acting to receive the audience's full attention rather than superfluous production elements (that being said, Eric Shimelonis' sound design is quite strong).

Will this play stand the test of time? It's hard to say, but it's certainly a solid, if not powerful and thought-provoking, addition to the cannon of American family dramas.

Running Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes, including one intermission.

How to Write a New Book for the Bible plays through May 5, 2013 at Round House Theatre Bethesda - 4545 East-West Highway in Bethesda, MD. For tickets, call the box office at 240-644-1100 or purchase them online.

Photo Caption: Ray Ficca (Bill), Mitchell Hébert (Pete), MaryBeth Wise (Mary) and Danny Gavigan (Paul) in Round House Theatre's production of How to Write a New Book for the Bible.

Photo Credit: Danisha Crosby

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