Current Production:
Some Things You Need to Know Before the World Ends (A Final Evening with the Illuminati)
By Levi Lee and Larry Larson
Directed By: Natasha Williams
Produced by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service , Inc
The Cast
| Reverend Eddie | Adam Luckey |
| Brother Lawrence | Ryan H. Case |
Dates
May 3-6, 10-12, 17,18, 20
Tickets
$15.00 or Gamble!
($21 minus a throw of two dice)
ABOUT THE PLAY
Some Things You Need to Know Before the World Ends (A Final Evening with the Illuminati) explores issues of blind faith and organized religion through the characters of Reverend Eddie and Brother Lawrence, survivors of an apocalypse who have taken shelter in their church. As Reverend Eddie prepares his final sermon, his grip on reality and his faith are challenged by the unseen presence of the Illuminati.
CAST BIOS
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Ryan Case (Brother Lawrence) is a co-founder and the Artistic Director of the Balagula Theatre Company. He has previously performed in Balagula's productions of "The Pillowman", "Power Plays", "The Dresser", "Phyro-Giants", "Some Things You Need to Know Before the World Ends (A Final Evening With the Illuminati)", and as the physicist Werner Heisenberg in "Copenhagen". He has also appeared in AGL productions as the title character of BatBoy in "BatBoy: The Musical", and as Vincent VanGogh in "Vincent in Brixton". Ryan's latest directing credits include "Line" and "Lovesavers", both for the Balagula stage. He has also co-produced several of the Balagula Theatre's shows. |
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Adam Luckey (Reverend Eddie) Adam is an actor and educator living in Lexington. Previous stage credits for the Balagula Theatre include roles in the Surprise Theatre series, the original production of "Some Things You Need To Know Before The World Ends (A Final Evening With The Illuminati)" "Accidental Death of an Anarchist", "Phyro-Giants!" and "Copenhagen" and directed Balagula's 2007 production of "The Dresser". Adam has worked extensively with most of the theatres in Central Kentucky and has led creative dramatics workshops in many of the counties around the state. He teaches, writes, acts, and directs for the Kentucky Historical Society Museum Theatre Program in Frankfort. |
Exerts from:
Ring around the Collar: American Comedy and the Clergy
By Larry A. Brown
Professor of Theater, Nashville, Tennessee
larry.brown@lipscomb.edu
This article was first published in Christian Scholar's Review 22:4 (June 1993):396-411.
The Bible may say, "How beautiful are the feet of those that preach the gospel," [1] but playwrights of American comedies have been stepping on ministerial toes for years …
Fanaticism turns to paranoia in Larson and Lee's Some Things You Need to Know before the World Ends (a Final Evening with the Illuminati). Reverend Eddie appears to be … obsessed with his impending demise. Haunted by visions, whispered threats, and rumors of nerve gas, he prepares the hunchbacked Brother Lawrence to carry on the work after he is gone. Eddie teaches his deformed disciple the catechismal doctrines (which Lawrence recites in a mindless, robotic fashion) and the ways of the enemy, a conspiratorial secret society called the Illuminati, who supposedly died out in the 18th century but who, according to Eddie, still exist to perpetrate their evil schemes:… to rule the world by controlling all the financial markets… In his final sermon, "Life is like a Basketball Game," Eddie emphasizes the importance of money in that both life and basketball are usually played for it.
… A greater temptation than money challenges Reverend Eddie, however, as he struggles to overcome his inner demons of self-doubt and depression. Throughout the play, Eddie experiences a series of visions which reveal the inconsistencies in the system of beliefs which he passes on to Lawrence. In each case, his discussion of church doctrine triggers a fantasy scene which satirizes the traditional teaching. After preaching on the one true church, Eddie and Lawrence are transformed into a country and western band who sing a pointedly sectarian hymn:
Jesus was a Lutheran, in every word and deed.
He went to church at eleven o'clock, and said the Nicene creed.
And when I get to heaven, I'll know just what to do
'Cause Jesus was a Lutheran, and I'm a Lutheran, too.
…As he punishes himself on a bicycle equipped for self-flagellation, he hallucinates about applying for sainthood as an interviewer discusses options for martyrdom… In a third vision, Eddie learns how St. Paul and Timothy over lunch one day invented the official church guidelines for the treatment of women: no talking, no authority over men, and no trading recipes in church… Burdened with a theology of pain, persecution, and fear, Eddie finally loses his struggle with despair. Contemplating suicide, he sees himself playing basketball with Death and learns that in the Big Contest, what matters is whether you win or lose, not how you played the game.
Larson and Lee's irreverent caricatures resemble editorial cartoons with their exaggerated features and mannerisms…. (Lately) mainstream denominations have witnessed declining memberships while conservative sects and splinter groups have flourished. Evangelistic efforts have gone from tent meetings to sermons by satellite. Quasi-religious organizations such as the Klan have resurfaced in force, promoting their confusing mixture of neo-Nazism and Christianity. Amidst this whirlwind of changes, the image of the American minister in popular culture has evolved as well, moving from the liberal high churchman of the Victorian era toward the charismatic fundamentalist prominent in the mass media today. Whereas once the minister exemplified the "best of society" in culture and sophistication, now he behaves like a man possessed, preaching a gospel of paranoia and experiencing visions of the Apocalypse.
Press Quotes:
“… a very funny evening of theatre…” The Irish Times
Exerts from
THE END IS HERE ON TWO FRONTS
by Rich Copley Published on 2005-09-04, Page E8, Lexington Herald-Leader (KY)
Some Things You Need to Know Before the World Ends (A Final Evening With the Illuminati) is a two-person play set in a church after an apocalyptic biological war. Reverend Eddie (Adam Luckey) and Brother Lawrence (Case) explore issues of faith in the dwindling hours.
Luckey says he has been interested in the play for a while, after a Georgetown College professor showed it to him. He put plans to present it in motion when Case announced he was moving to Philadelphia this month. "I said it's imperative that we do this show," Luckey says. "When I saw it, I knew immediately that Ryan and I could have a hell of a lot of fun with this show. ... He's very, very good at comedy, and I have not done much comedy."
The satirical play takes an irreverent look at organized religion. Preparing to give a sermon titled Life Is Like a Basketball Game, Reverend Eddie has paranoid hallucinations. "He's seeing the inconsistencies of the church teachings that he's been teaching," Luckey says.
Some of the visions play out in "Monty Python-like" sketches, Luckey says. "It puts Christianity on a skewer a little bit, but it's not blasphemous because there are many ways you take the messages," Luckey says.
Case says it's a tricky show "because it's satire using religion as a focal point, and religion is on the rise. People get a little itchy, like 'I'm right and you're wrong.' So people could get a little upset if they hear you're doing a satirical piece on religion. "But if you understand satire, it's not a problem."
The duo say that the play looks at things like dogma for dogma's sake, contradictions between church doctrine and Scripture, and the ways religious leaders can mislead people…