Joey Arena, Scott Davis & J.P. Lebangood in The Bible
Photo-The Alley Theater
The Bible: The Complete Word Of God (Abridged)
By Reed Martin, Adair Long and Austin Tickner
Reviewed by Craig Nolan Highley
Entire contents are copyright © 2014, Craig Nolan Highley. All rights reserved.
The Alley Theater continues to fuel their penchant for the offbeat and bizarre with their latest odd production, The Bible: The Complete Word of God (Abridged). Another work from a group known as The Reduced Shakespeare Company (who had a huge hit with their other, more familiar work The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)), it involves three actors attempting to tell all of the stories in the Bible in under 90 minutes.
There’s not really a lot more I can say to describe the show’s concept. I’m not sure they really made it through all the stories in the 66 books of the biblical canon, but they sure seemed to have fun trying.
All three actors are very funny. And while they all play various roles as the evening wears on, there does seem to be a pattern each of them sticks to: Joey Arena is commanding, taking somewhat of a leadership role; Scott Davis has a childlike demeanor as the fool; and J.P. Lebangood is sassy, playing most of the females.
How much you enjoy all of this depends on your tolerance for this type of material. For the most part I was quite entertained, though I did have to groan at the occasional very bad pun, and a few times I had trouble understanding their words when they attempted character voices.
Occasionally the energy lagged, but I think that was due to having such a small audience on opening night. I did find it amusing that at one point, when they pulled volunteers to the stage from the audience, there was hardly anyone left to watch the show!
But quibbles aside, it’s a good production, and deserves to be seen. If you are looking for something a bit unusual and offbeat in the holiday season, this show is right up your Alley (bad pun intended).
Featuring Joey Arena, Scott Davis, and J.P. Lebangood.
The Bible: The Complete Word Of God (Abridged)
December 19, 2014-January 17, 2015
The Alley Theater
633 West Main Street
Louisville, KY 40203
Thealleytheater.org
[box_light]Craig Nolan Highley has been active in local theatre as an actor, director and producer for more than 12 years. He has worked with Bunbury Theater, Clarksville Little Theatre, Finnigan Productions, Louisville Repertory Company, Savage Rose Classical Theatre Co., and WhoDunnit Murder Mystery Theatre among others. He has been a member of the Wayward Actors Company since 2006, and currently serves as their Board President. Craig’s reviews have also appeared in TheatreLouisville and Louisville Mojo. [/box_light]
