Incorruptible

            One topic that I thought was interesting in Michael Hollinger’s Incorruptible was the money issue that plagued the monks, no pun intended. Right from the beginning the main problem that Charles and Martin face is whether they are going to have enough money to keep their ministry open. This was an interesting take on a religious story, even if it is supposed to be a comedy. Even though dialogue is obviously comedic, the problems that this ministry is having is not funny, it’s quite real and serious especially for our protagonists. Both Martin and Charles go to great lengths, most of the time sinning against their religion, to obtain money and recognition from the pope. Neither of these men wants to go against their religion by asking for money out of the Peasant Woman, even though they want to give her free prayers. They also don’t want to fake a miracle, an incorruptible, but they go along with the plan even though it is highly sinful. They have realized that their survival was more important than their traditions and that says a lot about their characters.

            Another thing that I want to point out is the setting compared to what audiences would normally think of in terms of a comedy. The first choice probably wouldn’t be a place filled with monks, priests and peasants. One would expect some sort of goofy set of characters, but the audience gets these realistic people who have realistic goals: getting enough money to save their home even if it means doing what they never thought they would have to do. Religion, even though it is at the heart of almost all of the characters, does not play that big of a role in the meaning of the play. This is not really a very religious play; it’s more about faith, in religion or in humanity. Miracles might happen, but they probably wont. The only reason this play has one is because then it wouldn’t be a very entertaining play now would it?

            I thought that the end was expected very well. The whole play, there is dialogue going back and forth and the end just takes it to the nth degree. You have Charles and Martin constantly talking, and Marie, Felix, and Jack are all in the room as well trying to fix all of their problems. It seems like if one were to read this and not see it, it would be hard for the reader to keep all of the characters straight with each other. I am actually going to see this for one of my two plays, so it is going to be interesting to see how much different the play seems when I get to see the actors play it out. I think that I’m going to be able to keep every character straight once I can picture where on stage they are, because it is sort of difficult to do that when you are just reading it from the text.