What we know for sure is that while in New York City for a book signing, high-profile preacher Ed Newell was shown a painting that the common citizens of Lower Manhattan worshipped as a shrine. Upon returning to his 400-member congregation, he commences hiring the artist to furnish his megachurch offices with a ceiling mural, despite Irene Hoff's status as an avowed lesbian atheist. This meets with the disapproval of assistant pastor Arthur Garrett, but as work proceeds on the project, the dissenter finds himself in need of an organ transplant. After the Reverend Newell calls upon his flock to find a donor, an unexpected candidate comes forth.
Those are the facts, but interpretations vary: The Rev. Ed attributes these events to divine intervention, having received God's assurance that Irene is His chosen messenger—a verdict shared by the hitherto unbeliever, following a road-to-Damascus conversion. Irene's wife and business manager, Paige, is skeptical but sees the assignment as a lucrative career-boosting commission. Arthur's wife, Joann, cares only about saving her husband's life—but what about Arthur, himself? When all signs point toward redemption, does his stubborn refusal to accept the proffered grace reflect humility, or a perverse kind of egotism? For that matter, could not Ed's preoccupation with temporal power, or Irene's defiant impiety, likewise arise out of vanity?
This is the theme (called "hubris" in Greek tragedy) explored in Penny Penniston's Keys to the Kingdom, making its world premiere in this Stage Left production. Are those who profess their faith from habit, like Paige, or chafe under its demands, like Joann, any less worthy than Arthur, who employs it as a refuge from his own remorse? If someone claims to have been sent a revelation from God, can anyone deny it? As each of these flawed pilgrims find the courage to question their orthodoxy, they also embrace the directive to extend their fellow human beings the gift of forgiveness—a precept transcending sectarian divisions.
Penniston never allows her discussion to slide into amen-snorting caricature, nor do director Greg Werstler or his all-star ensemble of actors ever permit their portrayals to stray from respect for their characters' integrity. Don Bender ascertains that Rev. Ed's spontaneous "witnessing," however foreign to urban audiences, always springs from the heart. Kathrynne Wolf's devoted Joann and McKenzie Chinn's pragmatic Paige supply wise counsel to Brian Plocharczyk's repentant Arthur and Kate Black-Spence's inquisitive Irene, making for lively theological debate to engage playgoers of all creeds.
