Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Caryl Churchill’s sprawling LIGHT SHINING IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE is unruly and depressingly relevant

• By drediman
• May 8, 2018
• No Comments

Matthew Jeffers, Gregg Mozgala, and Rob Campbell in Caryl Churchill’s “Light Shining in Buckinghamshire” at New York Theatre Workshop.

Last night, New York Theatre Workshop’s revival of Caryl Churchill’s sprawling Light Shining in Buckinghamshire opened Off-Broadway. If the piece lacks the focus and incisive poetry that marks some of her latest works, its unruly nature is a good fit for the play’s premise. Light Shining in Buckinghamshire tells the story of the fiery idealism that led to the English Civil War of the 1600s, and how those hopes were slowly dashed in the subsequent years. The play’s depiction of the futility of true change in politics and governance – despite (or because of?) intense ideological clashes –  is a rather depressing and heartbreaking proposition, especially given the times in which we currently live.

I had seen this early Churchill work, which was written in 1976, a few years ago in a magnificent, large-scale production at the National Theatre in London directed by Lyndsey Turner. Although I left that production impressed, I recall feeling that the play perhaps wouldn’t translate as well across the pond given its inherent nationalistic themes.

Well, New York Theatre Workshop’s revival, helmed by the talented Rachel Chavkin (of The Great Comet fame) has attempted to universalize – or at least Americanize – the play (e.g., gone are the English accents!). The result is a sparse, but still lengthy, play of ideas stripped of most of its specificity. Although this approach works well to help us draw parallels to our world, it also makes the play more distancing. You see, Ms. Churchill has populated her play with a whole host of archetypes, and depriving them of their respective identities makes them less engaging.

Nevertheless, Ms. Chavkin’s point of view is valid, and the performances she coaxes from her committed “all of the above”-blind cast are fiercely persuasive because of the passion with which they convey the play’s ideas. And few other playwrights can mine ideas quite as deeply as Ms. Churchill.

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LIGHT SHINING IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
Off-Broadway, Play
New York Theatre Workshop
2 hours, 45 minutes (with one intermission)
Through June 3