Petaluma’s John Browning appears in timely tale of faith vs. fact

‘Grace’ under pressure|

Theater has an annoying tendency to raise questions and then refuse to provide answers. ?Take playwright Craig Wright’s Grace, running now at Sebastopol’s Main Stage West. It asks the simple question “Does God exist?”

Come on, we all know the answer to that one, right?

Steve and Sara are Minnesota transplants to the community of Sunrise, Florida where they plan to act on what Steve thinks is a million-dollar idea. He’s come to Florida to renovate and re-open the first in what he hopes to be several “Gospel themed” hotels. He envisions a chain of “Crossroad Inns” with their slogan being “Where would Jesus stay?” Steve is a devout Christian who prayed to God for five million dollars only to have God answer his prayers with a European investor who’s willing to invest fifteen. Sure, he’s never met the man, and yes, payment seems perpetually delayed, but Steve has faith.

Sara is a stay-at-home wife who spends her days planning for the family they will build once the money starts rolling in. After a visit from a friendly neighborhood exterminator, and desperately seeking to make a friend, Sara reaches out to a neighbor who’s suffered a tragedy. Sam, the neighbor, is a NASA scientist recovering from a terrible automobile accident that left his fiancé dead and his face horribly disfigured. When pressed by new friend Steve for his thoughts on God - something Steve does a lot – Sam makes it clear that he sees organized religion as a scam.

As Sam and Sara’s relationship grows, Steve’s world crumbles, both financially and spiritually. His faith is tested while Sam’s lack of faith is tested. Steve wonders how someone as devout as him could be made to suffer such misfortune. Sam begins to wonder how someone made to suffer so much misfortune could be graced with someone like Sara in his life. Sara, who never seemed to be as fervent in her beliefs as Sam, sees a different future for herself. That future no longer includes Steve.

The future of all three, however, is severely limited.

Director John Craven has a very strong cast, with Petaluman John Browning showing good range as Steve, an adherent of the “prosperity gospel,” who has an answer for everything that - when stripped of its religious dogma - often makes little sense. His character’s journey from righteous optimist to devastated doubter is a fascinating one.

Sam Coughlin’s Sam, with his head wrapped in bandages or covered in a half-mask, is a voice of reason and, interestingly, the source of much of this play’s humor. Ilana Niernberger is quite effective as Sara, sort of the “woman-in-the-middle” in the fact vs. faith debate. Director Craven appears as Karl, the exterminator, whose own dryly humorous thoughts on God have been formed by his experiences growing up in Nazi Germany.

Grace is a very interesting and well-produced play that raises issues of faith and belief and leaves it to its audience to hash it all out in their minds and in post-show conversations.

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