A Prayer For Owen Meany

British playwright Simon Bent fashions a factitious Jesus Christ in contempo life for the title role in his adaptation of John Irving's 1989 novel "A Prayer for Owen Meany."

British playwright Simon Bent fashions a factitious Jesus Christ in contempo life for the title role in his adaptation of John Irving’s 1989 novel “A Prayer for Owen Meany.”

It’s better not to take Owen’s religious analogies and political tirades too seriously, but rather be inspired by the food for thought mined from Bent’s disjointed but wittily serious script.

After accidentally killing his best friend’s mother with an errant line drive in a baseball game, Owen rationalizes that all things in life have a purpose and he is God’s tool. His father (Ray Dooley), in a poignant scene, insists Owen was born without him ever having “done it” with Owen’s mother (Tandy Cronyn). The implication is that Owen is the second coming. Owen also plays the Christ child in a nativity pageant; or is He for real?

Serious points — “Doubt is the cornerstone of faith” — are interspersed with wit and sarcasm, as when wheelchair user Lydia (Julie Fishell) asserts, “Our Lord moves in mysterious ways. … He should try a wheelchair.”

Owen has a vision of his death and carves his own gravestone; declares he won’t let best friend Tom Wheelwright ((Matthew Floyd Miller) die; and goes to war in Vietnam despite being a pacifist, because “God wants me to go.” He sacrifices his life smothering a grenade to save a room full of Vietnamese children.

The fast pace is aided by sometimes simultaneous presentation of two and three scenes not necessarily occurring in the same time period.

Bill Clarke’s functional set design, on a thrust stage with audience on three sides, graciously handles the large cast’s swift and flowing movements, and his costumes fit the New Hampshire setting between 1953 and 1968. Subtle sounds of helicopters during the Vietnam scenes, created by Anthony Reimer, add to the effective scene-setting.

Playmakers artistic director David Hammond booked the U.S. premiere of “Owen Meany” after seeing it in June 2002 at London’s National Theater. Bent was on site during rehearsals to revise the script for the shift in audience culture.

Hammond has assembled a cast as deep and strong as any in his 19 years at Playmakers. Adaptation to a conventional stage will present a challenge to equal the impact of Hammond’s pacing. The ambiguity and contradictions in philosophy and theology are typical of Irving, but Bent and Hammond have parlayed them into high fun and entertainment value.

A Prayer For Owen Meany

Paul Green Theater, Chapel Hill, N.C. , 501 seats, $40 top

• Production: A Playmakers Repertory Co. presentation of a play in three acts adapted by Simon Bent from the novel by John Irving. Directed by David Hammond.
• Crew: Set and costumes, Bill Clarke; lighting, Mary Louise Geiger; sound, M. Anthony Reimer; voice, Bonnie Raphael; movement, Craig Turner; dramaturg, Matt Di Cintio; stage manager, Joanne E. McInerney. Opened Oct. 15, 2003. Reviewed Nov. 7. Running time: 2 HOURS
• Cast: John Wheelwright - Matthew Floyd Miller Owen Meany - Jeff Gurner Barb Wiggins/Jarvit Mother - Jessica Peterson Grandma, Harriet Wheelwright - Joan Darling Tabitha Wheelwright - Vicki Van Tassel Mr. Meany/Dr. Dolder - Ray Dooley Mrs. Meany/Mitzi Lish - Tandy Cronyn Rector Wiggins/Major Rawls - Kenneth Strong Reverend Merrill - Jeffrey Blair Cornell Lydia/Nun - Julie Fishell Dan Needham - Gregory Northrup With: Carie Heitman, Mike Wiley, Jeffrey Meanza, Adam Sheaffer, James Kalagher, Brian Meredith, Karen Walsh, Pia Days, Monja McKay, Brandon Michael Smith, Brooke Houghton, Judy Chen, Tiffany R.R. Stanley, Joshua Blann, Vincent Giardina.

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