Praise be for a play that doesn't mock God: PATRICK MARMION reviews The Christians 

By Patrick Marmion for the Daily Mail

Published: 19:18 EST, 13 August 2015 | Updated: 19:48 EST, 13 August 2015

The Christians (Traverse)

Verdict: Very serviceable 

Rating:

It's nice to see Christians being taken seriously for once in the theatre — even if this American play is a slightly cursory discussion of hellfire.

Hell is a problem for many Christians because it belies the headline message of universal forgiveness and salvation.

New York playwright Lucas Hnath has seized on the dilemma to stage a power struggle in an Evangelical church where the charismatic pastor wants the congregants to embrace the idea that salvation is for everyone. Even Hitler.

Passion: Stefan Adegbola (left) and William Gaminara in The Christians at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh

Passion: Stefan Adegbola (left) and William Gaminara in The Christians at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh

Hnath uses a declamatory, confessional format with pastors and congregants taking turns to open their hearts not only about hell, but also whether anyone has the right to disturb beliefs that secure their world.

With the pastor challenged by his young associate, these are not just questions of Christian theology. 

They also capture the deadlock of modern liberalism and political correctness: how do you tolerate the intolerable?

The Christian’s consigning to hell is the equivalent of the modern liberal being ‘judgmental’. 

On stage: Christopher Haydon has packaged a bold, gospel-style production at the Traverse Theatre (above)

On stage: Christopher Haydon has packaged a bold, gospel-style production at the Traverse Theatre (above)

All this is packaged in Christopher Haydon’s bold, gospel-style production with a choir singing hymns on stage.

There is powerful acting, too, with William Gaminara as the pastor whose lined face is an Ordnance Survey map of pleading sincerity. 

But Stefan Adegbola, Lucy Ellinson and Jaye Griffiths (as the rival, the congregant and the pastor’s wife) raise the sincerity stakes.

There is no final answer and the issues need to be pushed further, but this is a show that touches on themes well beyond Christianity.

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