Word: sauls
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...play describes the battle for power between King Saul of Israel and the shepherd boy David over who should sit on the throne, as narrated in the two books of Samuel. Jon Lipsky, the playwright, remains faithful to the Biblical narrative but takes extensive liberties with the characters. He depicts Saul (Tim McDonough), a donkey-driver unexpectedly lifted to power, as a bumbling, good-natured clown rather than following the original portrait of a man fated to disobey God's commands. David (Suzanne Baxstresser), the young hero of the tale, emerges as a Machiavellian schemer whose love of power makes...
...PLOT OF THE PLAY generally follows the Biblical narrative: Samuel chooses Saul when the Israelites clamor for a king. Saul, a study in kingly ineptitude, disappoints Samuel in war and in government; consequently, Samuel shifts his favor secretly to David. David lives with Saul, who comes to love him as a son; but alas, David schemes to take power, aided by Samuel. A growing rivalry between the two leads David to defect to the Philistines, a belligerent tribe. David wins the battle, then drives the Philistines out, and feigns a sense of bereavement over the death of Saul...
...fairly simple plot--had Lipsky not chosen to interrupt the flow of the narrative with digressions and, in one case, an audience sing-along in the especially feeble Act I. At times Lipsky contrasts very well for comic effect the modern simplicity of Saul's words with the more formal diction of the other characters. For example, in the middle of a long tirade by Samuel, Saul interjects, "You know, you're a very gloomy person." But after a while, the wide-eyed stuff gets a bit grating...
...SPITE OF THESE structural weaknesses, the play contains many very moving and well-acted moments. The growing relationship between David and Saul that mixes rivalry with reluctant affection is subtly written and strikingly portrayed by Baxstresser and McDonough. Baxstresser's gender does not impede her portrayal of David; her slim, boyish looks overcome her feminine voice. Deceptively earnest and naive at first, Baxstresser waxes tense and ruthless. McDonough as Saul conveys the innocence and incompetence which plauge Saul very well, although at times he hammers in Saul's stupidity with overplayed grimaces and heavy-handed humor. Nevertheless, the scene where...
McDonough's Saul and Weinstein's Samuel also play off each other very well. When Samuel reprimands Saul, the tension between the two suggests a father-son confrontation. In a particularly gripping scene, Samuel, laughing maniacally, hacks to pieces a king captured in battle who Saul had refused to execute. In general, Weinstein does well with a poorly-written part. Samuel is unbelievably mystical, with his prophecies and his yoga-like formulas for steeling oneself to face death or danger...