And God Saw 'Genesis,' And It Was Not Good

New variations on an old theme often produce surprising results. Depending on the quality of the original idea, a remake can be a welcome sight to modern audiences. Alexander Chirkov's "Genesis of Genesis" attempts to accomplish this with the Biblical story of Genesis. The play is a series of episodes from the first 22 chapters of Genesis, including all the most famous: the Creation, the murder of Abel, the Flood and Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac.

While Chirkov claims that he is "retelling these events with today's voice," the play seems unable to choose between the Biblical tradition and its desire to modernize that tradition. Original quotes from the Bible are used along with modern phrases and slang, creating a sharp and disorienting contrast. When Eve (Naava Piatka) shouts at the dying Adam (Michael Stanton), "We had something real here--this was love!" she seems more like a Danielle Steel heroine than the mother of humanity. Ironically, despite its intention to make the Biblical story more acceptable to the modern viewer, "Genesis of Genesis" implies that the first book of the Bible has no relevance to modern times: Chirkov revises it so thoroughly that the force of the original is lost.

The play's sense of confusion is heightened by the choppy transitions between scenes--as one episode ends, the lights go down and the next begins. Actors are required to change characters so frequently that the viewer finds himself lost at times in the constant mutation: the actor playing Adam in one scene is Noah in the next, but no deep resemblance between these two characters is suggested. Instead, it just seems as if the oldest actor has been put in the oldest roles. These frequent changes, necessitated by the story line, create shallow characters.

Even more disturbing are episodes of Biblical patriarchs suddenly bursting into song for no apparent reason. The forced musical numbers do little to enhance the production except provide unintended comic relief: Chirkov turns the long list of Adam's descendants into a rousing chorus, with the shouted refrain, "And then he died!"

But the most troubling aspect of this adaptation of Genesis to the stage is its almost total lack of religious ideas. The verses of the Bible, so powerful and rich in their original context as inspired writings, have been made into musical soap operas. While it seems that Chirkov is an accomplished director in his own country--a 40-year-veteran of stage and film in Ukraine, he is almost unknown in the Western Hemisphere--he lacks a sense of the sacred in his play-writing. The story of Genesis and the events following it are given superficial treatment, and nothing more. At times, especially when dealing with such powerful material, imagination and novelty are not the only attributes needed for a theatrical production.