Do we believe in God? Can any of us here on earth hear the voice of God ringing in our ears? What does he say? And do we respond?
The newest Helms Theatre production by Lea Ann Douglas, a Graduate Arts and Sciences student, cannot claim honestly to answer these questions. No one has that power - and this fact, indeed, is the point.
"The Neophyte" traces the story of a young man on trial for murder, a young man who pleads that he was only carrying out the will of God. The larger questions of his reliability and motive remain purposely unanswered. It's the questions that matter.
"The Neophyte" is based loosely on a 1998 murder in Oceanside, Calif., near San Diego. A child, camping with his family, was murdered in a public bathroom. The perpetrator was captured in Los Angeles, after having murdered another woman in the city. Questioned by the police concerning his motive, the murderer continually responded with refrains of "God said."
As the trial proceeded, both the prosecution and the defense found startling elements surrounding the man's story. He was not found insane by either legal or medical standards. He scored outstandingly high on intelligence tests. And he believed without a doubt that he had heard the voice of God ordering him to commit the murder.
Having initially heard the story on a news program, Douglas followed up on the court accounts as inspiration for her play. While the real-life murderer has been convicted and is now serving time on death row, Douglas wrote "The Neophyte" as a literary means of asking the same crucial and intensely difficult questions.
"The Neophyte" raises these questions beautifully, leaving viewers reaching deep within themselves in search of personal beliefs. Oscar (Ed Festa), the murderer on trial, feels as though he's missing the rulebook - the guide to belief, to social interaction, even to survival in the daily world. But again, he honestly believes that his acts of violence were committed in the name of God.
Maybe he's crazy, having a delusion or a form of amnesia. Maybe he's lying to the court and to the police questioners. Or maybe Oscar is telling the truth. Isn't that really the scariest question to answer?
Douglas' version of the story highlights Oscar's leanings toward the supernatural, toward things that can be explained, but only if you really reach. But as Oscar himself says in the play, "When you find yourself explaining something so much that the explanation is more miraculous than the miracle itself, maybe you really have got a miracle."
Graine Goodwin (Victoria Joyce), Oscar's lawyer, finds herself battling with these questions. Suffering a crisis of faith after the death of her minister father, Goodwin can scarcely hold back her feelings of vengeance toward religion. By representing Oscar, perhaps she seeks to answer his questions of faith for herself. Who really has the power to understand religion and see God? If not her, if not her father -- who claimed all of his life to serve God but was in fact riddled with doubt - then who?
"The Neophyte" raises another startling question by asking about the nature of human "gifts." Does Oscar have a gift, and if he does, in what possible way can this be seen in a positive light? Look at Joan of Arc, Douglas says; what good came to her for all of her heavenly bestowed gifts?
Goodwin finds herself undeniably jealous of Oscar's ability to just believe, to see things. But can Oscar, on trial for murder, see anything as a gift? During the trial, he painfully remarks, "Do you think that what he bestowed upon me was an act of love? Look at me."
"The Neophyte" asks silencing questions of belief, of the human ability to see God and deal with that power on an earthly scale. Who really does have the power to see? Douglas claims another inspiration in the 1866 Dore painting by the same title (located in the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, Va.). In this Romantic-style painting, a group of elderly, weary monks sit around praying intensely, each hoping to find that link to the true God. A single monk, the youngest in the painting, stares straight out at the viewer. The light in his eyes broadly proclaims that he can see - really see.
Perhaps the most frightening - or amazing - idea behind "The Neophyte" is that there are people in this world who really can glimpse the unstinted power of God. This is also the play's greatest question.
Opening Thurs., Apr. 18 and running through Sun., Apr. 21 at Helms Theatre, "The Neophyte" promises to answer no questions. It does, however, promise to make you think about your beliefs and understanding of God and humanity. How much can you really see yourself?
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