We were skeptical.
When The Rogue Theatre announced Cynthia Meier was adapting Thornton Wilder’s novel “The Bridge of San Luis Rey” for the stage, it seemed, well, impossible.
But then, Meier, the company’s co-founder, had adapted William Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying,” and Virginia Woolf’s short stories in “The Lady in the Looking Glass.” Both had seemed impossible. And both wowed.
Still, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Wilder book is deeply personal to so many. Including this writer.
Thus the skepticism.
But moments into the production, which opened Saturday, April 23, it was clear that Meier’s respect for, and love of, the material vibrated.
The first line uttered is the first line of the book: “On Friday noon, July the 20th, 1714, the finest bridge in all Peru broke and precipitated five travelers into the gulf below.” We knew we were in good hands.
Almost all the words were Wilder’s — if Meier used any of her own, it was hard to distinguish them.
While the story is packed with drama, it was hard to imagine how it could be translated to the stage. It is about a man of the cloth, Brother Juniper, who examined the lives of the five who plunged to their deaths, expecting to prove that God had a plan. The book is divided into sections detailing their lives and Brother Juniper’s findings. It took a mind well-tuned to storytelling and the powerful magic of theater to figure out how to adapt this while keeping its soul.
And that is what Meier has done.
She left the stories separate, but made it clear how the lives intertwined. She incorporated much of Wilder’s dialogue. She spread the narrative throughout the cast, giving it a rhythm and clarity that was surprising.
Joseph McGrath directed the ensemble of actors, who were almost always on stage, sitting in the background if they were not in the scene. He made use of pantomime — which can be annoying, but in this instance helped illuminate the story. And he brought a compelling flow to the production.
This troupe of actors — many of whom likely never heard of the 1927 book — clearly embraced the tale and its varied and fascinating characters. But most of all, they got the heart of the tale.
This was truly an ensemble effort, with most everyone playing several roles. Still, there were a few who stood out, especially Kathryn Kellner Brown in her role as the Marquesa Dona Maria, a woman who was ugly, lonely, and cursed with a boundless, suffocating love for a daughter who wanted little to do with her. Kellner twisted her body and her face to an unrecognizable point as she crawled into the character’s skin. The suffering and longing oozed out of her. And when her character’s physical maladies occasionally faded away — at times when she spoke of or wrote to her daughter — we realized the beauty of the character.
Marissa Garcia’s Camila Perichole, an actress with a cold heart and many admirers, commanded attention whenever she danced or sang or spoke. Her face revealed the character’s cold heart and shallow nature. But when pain rocks her, and insight comes to her, her face told us of that, too.
Meier has a triumph here. McGrath and the company of actors do as well.
The book is wonderful; this adaptation makes it dance off the page and on to the stage.
Do not let skepticism keep you away.
