Review Fix chats with Artistic Director, James Bosley for the play “Merciful Father.†who discusses his role in the production and why theatre goers in New York City should check it out.
About “Merciful Fatherâ€:
A brothel owner commissions the creation of a Torah scroll to win a respectable husband for his daughter. His daughter instead chooses ill repute. MercifulFather is a provocative new take on Sholem Asch’s scandalous Yiddish play God of Vengeance.
God of Vengeance opened on Broadway at the Apollo Theatre in 1923 and featured Broadway’s first lesbian kiss, after which the actors and producers were arrested for immorality. That production is the inspiration for Paula Vogel’s new play, Indecent which premiered last year at the Vineyard Theatre and is slated for a Broadway run in 2017.
Merciful Father is directed by UP’s Artistic Director, James Bosley who has premiered three of his plays with UP, including the critically acclaimed productions of Broad Channel, and Epic Poetry.
November 1st – 12th – Tuesdays – Saturdays at 8:00 pm
At Fort Washington Collegiate at 181st Street
Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?
James Bosley: As Artistic Director of the company, my process began as it always does – working with the author on the script until we are both as happy as can be. However, with Merciful Father I knew immediately that I wanted to direct it. As someone who directs only occasionally, my process was to allow the actors and my stage manager to tell me what to do.
Review Fix: What makes this production different or special?
Bosley: At UP Theater Company, we only produce plays that are different and special, but Merciful Father will be different and special in different and special ways.
Review Fix: What did you learn about yourself through this process?
Bosley: It wasn’t so much through the process but through the play itself. “You can’t con God” is the revelation that our brothel owner utters when his scheme to gain God’s grace goes awry. The irreligious person turning to God in the face of personal tragedy, that’s an oft told tale. Merciful Father works in the opposite direction; if you only turn to God when convenient, He may punish you and cast tragedy down upon you. It is a cautionary tale for sinners; we can deny God all we want, but that doesn’t mean He still won’t have His way with us. This is Old Testament God, a force to be reckoned with like it or not.
Review Fix: How does it feel to be a part of something like this?
Bosley: Thrilling, frightening, humbling.
Review Fix: What are your ultimate goals for this production and for the future?
Bosley: For me, the goal never goes farther than creating good work, work that strikes the audience’s heart and mind and leaves them questioning things they may not have wanted to question before. After that, going to Broadway and winning a Tony is just cake.
Review Fix: What do you think your audiences will enjoy the most?
Bosley: What I think they will enjoy the most is the beginning of the play, which sets the story in motion like a sit-com. What I think they will remember the most is the climax of the play, which has the finality of a Verdi opera.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Bosley: For UP, we start working on our Spring Production, Lost/Not Found by our second favorite playwright, Kirby Fields. It is a special play, and very different from anything we’ve done before.
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