Bustling
Currently, the Obie Award-winning troupe is offering an impressive one-man re-enactment entitled "Get Mad at Sin!" The time is 1971. The place is
On opening night, spectators file along two raised parallel sections. A thick, long carpet between them becomes the stage for actor Andrew Dinwiddie. It doesn’t take long for him to plunge into character. The controversial preacher paces and rants. His voice quivers as he looks skyward and then penetrates every pair of eyes at the sold-out performance.
Director Jeff Larson has given Dinwiddie all the leverage he needs to inhabit Swaggart’s self-righteous skin. His rants to a corner of the blank wall become perfect parody. A heavy southern accent and exaggerated gestures are unmistakable. A beige polyester suit, circa 1970, completes the illusion.
As Dinwiddie paces the length of the house (sets by Sara C. Walsh), from a simply decorated podium to a very unstained glass window, the room is bathed and then darkened by lights and shadows (lighting by Chloe Z. Brown). The actual voice recording and tent revival music from that era (John Moniaci, musical direction) haunts the theater all evening.
Many in the audience nod in familiarity with Swaggart’s rise and fall. Others are merely swept up by Dinwiddie’s mesmerizing vocal and visual mannerisms. Whatever the motivation, there are unabashed outbursts of laughter and knowing smirks everywhere. Dinwiddie’s phenomenal ability to memorize and present an uninterrupted monologue for a solid hour deserves its own standing ovation.
The evening’s hosts, Madeline Best and Ben Demarest, offered lemonade and cookies after the show. Many in the audience continued to the after-party across the street.
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