Tea at Trianon: The Actor

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

The Actor

I cannot recommend highly enough Daniel McInerny's new play entitled The Actor. The drama explores the youthful acting career of Karol Wojtyla, known as "Lolek" to his friends, and known to history as St. John Paul II. Faced by Nazi oppression, Lolek and his companions begin an underground theater in which to perform Polish plays, in an effort to keep their country's culture alive. One sees the love of words, art, and spectacle that would come to characterize the apocalyptic worldwide ministry of the future pontiff. The play also shows how the arts can be a path for achieving a dynamic sanctity. It is through his growth as an actor that Lolek comes to self-knowledge and eventually finds his overwhelming call to the priesthood.

Written with humor, insight and wit, the dialog demonstrates the dilemma of young, devout Catholics who love their country as well as literature but who are kept down by a hostile, anti-Catholic power. In spite of, and perhaps even because of, the persecution of their people, they continue to work to bring beauty, faith and meaning to their lives. They arrive at insights and inspirations which they might never have had otherwise. God can raise up saints and artists in the darkest of times. As for the character of Lolek, a glimpse is given into the soul of the enthusiastic young man who would not let Nazis or Communists stand in his way. While I could see the drama unfold clearly in my mind while reading it, I hope to see it performed on stage someday soon; it deserves to become apart of the repertory of many a theater group. Share