The Play's the Thing

[The Adagio from the Serenade for thirteen wind instruments (K. 361) begins to sound. Quietly and quite slowly, seated in the wing chair, SALIERI speaks over the music.]

SALIERI: It started simply enough: just a pulse in the lowest registers — bassoons and basset horns — like a rusty squeezebox. It would have been comic except for the slowness, which gave it instead a sort of serenity. And then suddenly, high above it, sounded a single note from the oboe.

[We hear it.]

It hung there unwavering, piercing me through, till breath could hold it no longer, and a clarinet withdrew it out of me, and sweetened it into a phrase of such delight it had me trembling. The light flickered in the room. My eyes clouded! ...I called up to my sharp old God, “What is this? . . . What?!...Tell me, Signore! What is this pain? What is this need in the sound? Forever unfulfillable, yet fulfilling him who hears it, utterly. Is it Your need? Can it be Yours? . . .”

-from Amadeus, Act One, Scene 5

Last night I took my daughter to see a high school production of Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus. I was a little younger than she is now when my parents took me to see Ian McKellen as Salieri on Broadway. I can still remember the production. Taking me to the theater was one of the best things my parents did for my education during my childhood. I want my children to have the same opportunity.

It was a big first for us. My daughter had never seen a real play before - our theater outings have been to musicals, ballets, and opera, but so far no plays. And she had never really been allowed to watch anything R-rated, or any piece with real "adult content." We were both eager to see what this cast would do with this challenging work.

We were not disappointed. In fact, our jaws were on the floor over the principals, Jacob Scharfman and Rob Knoll, the extraordinarily talented, impressive young actors who played Salieri and Mozart. I always love watching amazingly gifted young performers bring to life these complex, often difficult works; their energy is boundless, and they have none of the jaded arrogance that older professional performers can sometimes project. They throw themselves body and soul into these roles, generously, and the result, if they have some native skill and some strong guidance, can be breathtaking.

I realized after seeing it again that I liked the play even better than the film, despite my love of the movie's incomparable dictation scene. Salieri in the play struggles more, shows more complexity and passion, and when you watch this live - the flesh-and-blood character searching his soul even while he's giving in to his evils, just a few feet away from you - the effect is stunning.

My 11-year-old daughter had some wonderful insights from her enjoyment of the performance. She noticed the living, breathing, dynamic nature of live performance as opposed to performance on film; the energy added by the audience; the responsibility the actors bear, to carry the entire story with their own voices and faces and movements, without being able to rely on help from songs, scores, or special effects; the way physical acting can be just as important as vocal, a fact underscored by the outstanding portrayal of both the boorish, goofy Mozart and the tremulously ill yet feverishly driven Mozart by Rob Knoll in last night's production.

Children should go to the theater. They should absolutely go and see LIVE THEATER. Not just the fun stuff - though I love a good Christmas revue - but the challenging stuff, too. We should put our kids in touch with material that makes them ask questions, and think of more than one side of an issue; stories that draw them into a world that makes them see their own world anew; characters that open their eyes, through the specifics of a few, to insights about humanity, and perhaps to a more developed compassion for its members. The stories we learn, read, write, hear, and enter into ultimately recreate us. I'm looking forward to the next play!

My Favorite Plays

The Crucible by Arthur Miller

Proof by David Auburn

Amadeus by Peter Shaffer

You Can't Take It With You by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart

The Arabian Nights by Mary Zimmerman

Copenhagen by Michael Frayn

Noises Off by Michael Frayn

Master Class by Terrence McNally