Douglas Fitz-Henry Jones

"Darkness as a Bride:" Heloise, Isabella, and the Dialectic of Transcendence and Deception in Early-Modern Theatre

[pages 69 - 93]

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Abstract

As socially-imposed boundaries appeared increasingly synthetic, the early-modern subject was, I argue, faced with two options: to either transcend these boundaries or to manipulate the appearance of boundaries for the purposes of personal gain. Through an analysis of the Letters of Abelard and Heloise and Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, I hope to accurately describe the contours of a worldview which pervades both religion and theater – one which is marked, not merely by the dialectic between transcendence and deception, but by the origin of such a dialectic in what was perceived to be an explosive religious interiority.

Allie Terry

Meraviglia on Stage:
Dionysian Visual Rhetoric and Cross-Cultural Communication at the Council of Florence

[pages 94 - 109]

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Abstract

The positive reception of sacre rappresentazioni by an Eastern official at the Council of Florence (1439) counters recent claims that visual representation in the West failed to communicate across cultures in the fifteenth century. The essay analyzes the form and function of the sacred dramas to probe the relationship between pictorial and dramatic representation and the theological foundation of the Byzantine image. The sacred dramas arguably function in an aesthetic mode akin to the Baroque conception of meraviglia, which is examined as a form of visual rhetoric that allowed for cross-cultural communication in fifteenth-century Florence.

Jay Twomey

Blasted Hope:
Theology and Violence in Sarah Kane

[pages 110 - 123]

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Abstract

Sarah Kane’s Blasted, like other of her plays, has struck audiences and critics alike as an intolerable blend of violence and despair. Yet Kane herself considered Blasted hopeful. Given Kane’s own religious background, the religious elements in her plays, and comments she made linking individual plays to theological concepts, this essay examines Blasted, and Kane’s other work, in terms of theological traditions concerning hope. It concludes that the violence in Blasted is a theologically-grounded foil to the play’s briefly-sketched, but radically-alternative visions of reality which, as they break into the fabric of Kane’s violent world, are the source of the play’s hopefulness.

Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr.

Intelligent Design (after Julie Taymor):
Opposing Darwinism in The Crystal Cathedral's Creation: Once Upon All Time

[pages 124 - 139]

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Abstract

Most drama dealing with the debate between evolution and creationism takes the side of evolution and presents the drama via language, text and verbal argument, as seen in Inherit the Wind and The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial.  In 2005, however, the Crystal Cathedral in Southern California, already known for its spectacular productions at Easter and Christmas, presented a spectacle-based production advocating Intelligent Design entitled Creation: Once Upon all Time.  This essay explores Creation in several contexts: as a religious drama, as a Julie Taymor-inspired puppet show, and as a drama designed to refute evolution and argue in favor of ID.