ED2015 3/5 Reviews ED2015 Theatre Reviews

The Christians (Gate Theatre)

By Rebecca Jacobson | Published on Thursday 27 August 2015

Set in an American megachurch – the sort of place with a parking lot so massive you could get lost in it – Lucas Hnath’s new play unfolds as a series of sermons and theological debates. As it opens, pastor Paul (the engaging William Gaminara) announces the church is newly debt-free. But he accompanies this exciting news with a bombshell: Hell doesn’t exist, at least not as a fire-and-brimstone dungeon ruled over by a horned devil. This unleashes a crisis of both faith and community among his congregants – this production features a 24-member choir in purple robes – who start to decamp to a splinter church. It’s a smart and solid play, if sterile at times.

Traverse Theatre, until 31 Aug.
tw rating 3/5 | [Rebecca Jacobson]