The Glory of the World

The Glory of the World

Actors Theatre of Louisville

BAM Harvey Theatre

January 16, 2016

Photo courtesy of
Brooklyn Academy of Music

Sentiment leads to celebration, which leads to deep emotion, which leads to hurt feelings, which leads to anarchy… and it all stops for pizza.  That is the main action of Charles Mee’s The Glory of the World now playing at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) Harvey Theatre.  Direct from Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival of New American Plays, this unique and original work directed by Les Waters is a celebration of the mysteries and complexities of our existence.

Photo courtesy of Actors Theatre of Louisville

The show begins when a solitary man silently enters, barefoot, and sits with his back to the audience in contemplation.  His thoughts are projected on the upstage walls of the set, which appears to be an empty warehouse.  As the man gets up to leave, the garage door upstage center opens and seventeen men walk downstage singing happy birthday to Thomas Merton (his 100^th).  He is toasted as a Buddhist, a Catholic, a Communist, a Bohemian, a monk… the list goes on and on throughout the play.  These men party with a sense of love, devotion, admiration, fierceness, and aggression that builds to an all-out brawl.  The action of one moment viscerally leads to another with a physicality that is humorous, musical, brutal, and metaphorical.  The amazing cast boldly commits with such a high level of vitality that you can’t help abandoning all thoughts and simply experience the journey of the moment.  Hence, the theme and purpose of the production, which is intuitively conceived, spiritedly constructed, and brilliantly delivered.  

Photo courtesy of Actors Theatre of Louisville

To have an original piece from the Human Festival presented in Brooklyn is a rare opportunity that needs to be taken advantage of.  The Glory of the World is an appropriate title for this production.  It runs at BAM Harvey Theatre through February 6th.  You have to experience it! 

Domenick Danza