Jonathan Edwards sings lustily and prays mightily

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Jonathan Edwards and his wife, Sara, share a soulful moment.

It's tough to go into The Flaming Spider, a play about the life of Jonathan Edwards, without some preconceived notions. Even among us Yalies, who know Edwards as a college namesake, he is often held up as the most puritanical of Puritans, whose "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" sermon set the standard for fire-and-brimstone preaching.

Even if one quells the fear that the evening might be a long harangue, there's still the suspicion, in the opening scenes, that the drama might be a foregone conclusion: young Jonathan discovers his skill in the pulpit and seeks to create a new Jerusalem among parishioners in Northampton, only to find secularism too worthy an adversary and to retreat in defeat (to head Princeton, one might add). The Flaming Spider quickly dispels all such fears, showing us a Jonathan Edwards who loved having picnics with his wife and poring over his Bible; who urged his congregation to "sing lustily" as well as pray for forgiveness; and who was subject to the same pull between faith and reason that seems to be reanimating religious and secular controversy today.

Perhaps this nuanced portrait prompted Jonathan Edwards Master Gary Haller to sponsor the production, a world premiere. Austin Flint, a senior lecturer at Columbia University, finished the script more than a year ago, and Haller read a copy. Later, he invited Flint to read from the play at a JE master's tea. The production became a multi-faceted effort: Haller and the college helped, Dan Dinero, JE '99, produced the show, Jay Andreassi of the Elm City Shakespeare Company directed, and Yale students and New Haven residents act. As a preacher, the historical Jonathan Edwards might have dismissed theater as frivolity; but as a Yale graduate and former New Haven resident, he would have to be pleased with the mixture of city and University talent represented at the University Theater this weekend.

Flint's script is scholarly as well as emotionally evocative, entwining sections of Edward's sermons and writings with original dialogue and authentically characterized storylines. Far from being an open-and-shut case of an idealistic preacher thwarted by worldly cares, Jonathan Edward's life turns out to be a matrix for all sorts of drama. The way The Flaming Spider brings to life the people around Edwards makes the play suspenseful and gripping. The households and elders of Northampton make up the kind of insular New England town all too easy to imagine, with plenty of piety on show every Sunday and plenty of doubts and shady dealings the rest of the week. Edward's congregation is full of real people, not bodies in pews.

But ultimately the play depends on its central character. The audience needs to understand, at least in part, the kind of oratorical skill that prompted 300 dramatic conversions among Edwards's parishioners in half a year. It's a large role, and Andrew Stigler, GRD '02, doesn't quite fill it. It would help if he had a few more speeches that allowed him to let loose with bombastic rhetoric. There are too many scenes of doubt and recrimination, not enough of powerful preaching. Stigler also fails to exploit fully the chance for change and nuance in his character. The play is a long flashback, and Edwards is shown over a span of 30-odd years. In hindsight, lines like "No one can love God too much" and "So that's what morality has become--a matter of good sense" want more rueful shading, which would help Edwards's characterization and let his lessons resonate more fully in late-20th-century ears. Perhaps most important, Stigler often looks uncomfortable at times when Edwards needs to be commanding and assured.

It's a difficulty shared by other cast members. Some look uneasy assuming period costume and carriage, and this awkwardness makes for a slightly jarring note in otherwise fluid staging. There are notable exceptions: as Edwards' wife, Cleo Godsey, BK '00, makes us believe that a vibrant and sensitive woman would choose a husband who wasn't easy to live with. Her Sara is proud of being part of an exalted mission, alternately spurring her husband on and trying to protect him from himself. Clarissa Ward, JE '02, who plays a young housewife, shows us a believable progress of doubt edging toward faith; her scenes with her husband are touchingly intimate and her exchange with Edwards is the most poignant in the play. And Mary Sheridan, BR '99, faced with the un-enviable task of portraying religious ecstasy, carries off a portrayal that is chilling in its credibility.

The entire ensemble, I am sure, will quickly settle more comfortably into their parts, project a little more, and quicken the pace of several scenes that want crispness. They have an excellent space in which to do so. The set and lighting design, both by Jim Brewczynski, is unassumingly beautiful, often creating a room or an emotional state with a single spotlight. By the end of the play, lighting patterns help isolate Edwards in a feverish hell on earth, waiting for judgment from his God. That this production makes us care about a fervent preacher from several centuries ago is a testament to its effects sharing such powerful simplicity.

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