The only guarantee you have when attending a world premiere is you can never predict the experience.
Leaving “Forgiveness” at Barrington Stage Company I felt I was leaving one of the most provocative and exciting plays of the season.
Making it feel odd is based on general pre-show information; it is one of the shows that I would have gladly missed.
You can never predict.
“ Forgiveness” is about four cases before the Board of Pardons in Minnesota. Playwright Mark St. Germain attended a session of the bi-annual hearings and obtained transcripts of other cases. Based on actual hearings and rulings he created “Forgiveness”.
What sounds potentially dry and straightforward is marvelously dramatic and compelling. As a person who is always leery of audience participation, in this case, the device of having the audience vote whether an individual should be pardoned or denied is a stroke of genius.
Because St. Germain has written a morally grounded play the device forces the audience to become totally invested in the outcomes.
The audience vote is not binding. It’s the panel’s decision that counts. But to the audience their votes are meaningful. Indeed, at the Sunday matinee which I attended the audience actually booed a decision that went counter to their choice.
What’s important to understand is the individuals have served their jail time. This is not a plea for exoneration. It’s a request to be freed from felony status and have crimes removed from the record. It gives you back the civil rights of a full citizen.
You have to wait at least five years from release to ask for a hearing and then have only ten minutes to state your case.
The board consists of three people - the Governor, State Attorney General and the Chief Justice of the state’s Supreme Court. Two votes decide the outcome. Minnesota is the only state to do this.
On their own, the 10-minute confessionals are spellbinding. They are filled with regret, self-reflection and responsibility for their illegal actions. It’s high human drama which touches our conscience.
More important, the individuals plead their cases by demonstrating lives led with dignity in and beyond prison, after the crime was committed.
Each person has changed their life and appears a good citizen, parent, friend and volunteer. They are devoted to rectifying their past behavior by contributing to society.
St. Germain uses the cases to prod the audience to think about such things as whether or not people can change.
Too, you must wonder what
is fair punishment for certain crimes. Is taking a life or sexually abusing a young person ever forgivable? In any of the cases can rehabilitation be a guarantee against repeat behavior?
Or, more to the point, is a heinous crime as deserving for leniency as a crime of arson with only property damage.
The audience must come to terms with their own code of justice. Think about punishment versus rehabilitation. And, yes, we must face our own latent prejudices.
Making the experience extremely personal it begs the question- would you want your entire life judged by your behavior on your worst possible day?
Obviously, this experience could not be as moving were the audience not able to relate to those looking for forgiveness.
The actors not only play those seeking purification of their records. When not center stage they alternately play the judges who question the felons or act as witnesses speaking for or against those looking for pardons.
The four actors offer remarkable, sensitive portrayals that break your heart. Peggy Pharrell Wilson, Joey Collins, Rodney Hicks and Darlene Hope are never less than remarkable. The individuals and their stories not only become real, they are subtle, passionate and genuine.
The work is directed by Ron Logomarsino, who directed last season’s true life play, “The Happiest Man on Earth.” Once again he guides his actors to create honest, real and noble characters.
I left thinking how St. Germain had erred by not giving a pardon to one especially deserving person. The more I thought about it I suspect it is the playwright’s way of showing that even in the fairest of situations justice is not always served.
One last thing. “Forgiveness” is only 65-minutes long. It seems short, but it is the richest hour-plus you will spend in the theater this summer.
It continues at Barrington Stage Company’s Mark St. Germain Theatre until September 8. For schedule and ticket information barringtonstageco.org
Bob Goepfert is theater reviewer for the Troy Record.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.
