He's just coasting along, keeping his parishioners happy on his advice and sermons, keeping himself happy on their contributions of sparkling Burgundy. And, one sunny Sunday morning, a young seminarian questions Father Tim Farley and turns his life around. "Mass Appeal," Bill C. Davis' fine play, is 31 years old, but the production that opened last night at Chesterfield Mall remains viable, even vehement. It will run thrugh June 12.
A Dramatic License production, starring Alan Knoll as Farley and Dylan Duke as Mark Dolson, the seminarian, it's a first-rate evening of theater, with cool, smooth direction by Deanna Jent and a pair of fine performances. The questions that Davis poses, speaking through Dolson, and that Farley will not answer, were old ones in the church (in practically all churches) when he asked them, and they're older today, and still largely unanswered.
Even when "Mass Appeal" first opened, Davis was behind the curve; the '60s were a time of upheaval in society, and recent statements from the Vatican indicate that societal changes caused priests to sexually abuse children. No abuse here, merely some polite questioning about the purpose of a priest in a comfortable, upper-middle class parish. If there's a weakness about the play, it's that Davis is too easy on the position of the church — all churches — in the 20th century.
Knoll, one of the busiest actors in town this year, is excellent as Farley, gaining some courage, but not enough, from the wine bottle, trying to convince Dolson of the American business man's motto that you have to go along to get along. He also has to convince himself that he is doing the right thing. It's another fine performance in what may be known as the Year of Alan Knoll in St. Louis theater. Young Duke is an excellent counterpoint, his youthful enthusiasm and idealism peeking through nicely; he works well with Knoll, and their timing is proper on the comic lines, such as when he accuses the older priest of practicing "song and dance theology."
St. Louisans get a few extra chuckles from the fact that the unseen villain of the piece, the head of the seminary, is known as Father Burke. Historical note: Milo O'Shea and Eric Roberts were Farley and Dolson, respectively, when the play opened off-Broadway in 1980, directed by Geraldine Fitzgerald. It tranferred to Broadway a year later, with Michael O'Keefe replacing Roberts. Jack Lemmon and Zeljko Ivanek were cast in the 1984 movie.
Mass Appeal, a Dramatic License production, opened last night at Chesterfield Mall, to run through June 12
—Joe