In Next Act comedy 'God's Spies,' Shakespeare gets schooled by ordinary people during lockdown
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Harold Bloom loftily credited William Shakespeare the writer with "the invention of the human."
But Shakespeare the character in Bill Cain's world premiere comedy "God's Spies," sequestered by plague and trying to write "King Lear," learns a lot about being human from the two people he's stuck in lockdown with: a lawyer and a prostitute.
Sounds like a set-up for a joke, right? But the rich performances of the actors who embiggen those potential stereotypes have much to do with the success of Next Act Theatre's new production, which opened Friday evening.
As Ruth, the play's sanest character, Eva Nimmer is brusque in business dealings and kind in human relations, with hidden depths she keeps revealing, even until the end of the play. As Shakespeare learns when she takes apart "Hamlet," she knows something about storytelling, too.
Zach Thomas Woods infuses zany comic energy into Edgar, a young Scottish lawyer and scrivener (a copier of documents), sternly religious but desperately horny and infatuated with Ruth. But he's not afraid to upbraid Shakespeare for his illegible penmanship or, more seriously, for his thoughtlessness in treating Ruth as a serving wench. After all, she's the hostess keeping them alive during this crisis.
As written by Cain, Mark Ulrich's Shakespeare is a well-off man of the world in a hurry. He's also a typical writer in a stage production, flinging crumpled paper around as he moans and kvetches about the play he's trying to write. He's arrogant, the world revolves around him, but he shows himself willing to learn what these two can teach him.
The experience of the COVID-19 pandemic infuses Cain's humane comedy, as evidenced by Ruth's relentless tidying and Shakespeare's blithe, ignorant dismissal that it will only last a few days.
This is the fifth Cain play that Next Act has produced, the third with a Shakespearean theme. It would not hurt to reacquaint yourself with "King Lear" before seeing it, as "Lear" plot points are discussed and the Shakespeare play is frequently quoted. Like some of Cain's other plays, there's a lot of comedy and argument about how theater is made here. I found this one superior to last season's Cain offering, "The Last White Man," and easier for someone who is not a Shakespeare obsessive to follow.
David Cecsarini directed and co-sound designed "God's Spies," capping off an incredible three decades as Next Act's producing artistic director.
"God's Spies" is Next Act's entry in World Premiere Wisconsin, a statewide festival of new plays and musicals.
If you go
Next Act Theatre performs "God's Spies" through May 21 at 255 S. Water St. For tickets, visit nextact.org or call (414) 278-0765.
More: Next Act Theatre's new leader's first season includes 'Scarecrow,' set on a Wisconsin farm
More: For Deborah Staples, playing Hamlet, the conscience's the thing
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: In Next Act comedy 'God's Spies,' Shakespeare learns how to be human
