It's a familiar sight: a football player scores a touchdown or a baseball slugger hits a home run and then punctuates the moment with a finger thrust skyward.I never quite know how to take that gesture, especially when the finger-pointer seems to consistently run afoul of Godly behavior. (Hey, nobody's perfect, we all fall short of the glory of God, but we don't all show up on the police blotter every six months.)
These thoughts flashed through my mind recently at the end of Max McLean's stirring one-man performance of Mark's Gospel, at The Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport Ave. in Chicago.
The remarkably talented actor had concluded the presentation, and cheering audience members had collectively risen to their feet. McLean soaked in the accolades for a few moments, then pointed straight up before leaving the stage.
On the heels of his own crowning achievement--think grand slam home run times 99-yard touchdown run...and then some--McLean's motion was one that was refreshingly genuine and appropriate. He had just spent himself in communicating history's greatest and most important story, and McLean understandably knew that his wasn't, in truth, a one-man show so much as a show honoring the One.
That being said, Mark's Gospel holds broad appeal, whether you are an evangelical Christian or simply a fan of wide-ranging performances that seek to provoke emotion and thought. The two-hour, two-act play is complemented by a large PowerPoint-style map that provides the logistical context for the journeys that Jesus and his disciples took in his ministry en route to the cross.
In telling the story of Jesus, McLean, so wickedly good as Screwtape in The Screwtape Letters, the high level demon in hell, wields his magnificent voice, masterful interpretation and energetic theatricality.
Portraying scenes that are by turns compelling, maddening and hilarious, McLean humanizes what can so easily be dismissed as words on a page. And he does it with such seeming ease that you may be apt to forget that it's one man up there on stage, transforming himself, often in rapid-fire fashion, from one character to another.
“Jesus is certainly a controversial figure.” McLean says. “Yet he has been tamed by overfamiliarity. Bringing a theatrical lens to the original source for Christianity helps restores Jesus back to size. It is meant to surprise and delight. And I need to redeem myself for doing Screwtape these past few years.”
McLean and director Jeffrey Fiske, the producers of The Screwtape Letters, brought Mark's Gospel to the stage through Fellowship for the Performing Arts.
As they both were when my wife, Bridgett, and I saw Screwtape five months ago, McLean and Fiske were affable and engaging as they chatted with us after the performance.
My recommendation: see the show and stick around afterwards to dig even deeper with these talented artists. Time is running short, with Sunday, May 17th marking the final performance. The schedule is Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. with matinees on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.
Tickets range in price from $29 to $48.50 and are available by calling The Mercury Theater Box Office at 773.325.1700, TicketMaster at 312.902.1500, or visiting www.ticketmaster.com.
Discounted tickets for students and groups of 10 or more are also available by calling 773.477.7666. For more information, visit MarkOnStage.com.
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