Itamar Moses, the American playwright and author of Bach at Leipzig, now being staged by Seat of the Pants Productions, is best known for his 2018 Tony Award winning book for the Broadway musical The Band’s Visit.
Bach at Leipzig, which was first presented in 2002 at Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, NY, was subsequently presented Off Broadway. It is a tale of aging, betrayal, death, politics and religion.
The two-act, more-than-two-hour historical comedy is, according to the author, based on a 1722 true story, set in Leipzig, Germany, precipitated by the death of Johann Kuhnau, the local cathedral’s revered organist. This is a prestigious position and questions arise as to not only who will replace him and but the kind of antics the candidates will undertake, including blackmail, bribery and lying, to win the position.
Written in a fugue-like, very structured format, though he never speaks a line, and we never see him, per se, Bach is the play’s central character.
Interestingly, though he was finally hired, in an interview the play’s author, states, “Absurd that anyone was hired over Bach for a musician’s job, but, in reality, he was the 3rd choice.” Some of this may be due to the fact that Bach’s St. John Passion was considered controversial and rarely performed because its libretto — the words Bach set to music — come from Martin Luther’s idiosyncratic translation of the Gospel of John, which characterizes Jews as enemies of Jesus (conveniently overlooking that Jesus was a Jew).
The Seat of the Pants production has moments of humor, though not as fun-filled as reviews from other productions advertise. Filled with some overacting and farce rather than comedic line interpretations, the cast at times didn’t seem completely sure how to interpret some of the lines.
Though written for an all-male cast, this production is composed of five females and two males. Interestingly, the word “he” is used to describe all the candidates in dialogue. In reality, though by societal prescription of the time required it, there would be no reason for all the candidates be male.
The cast — Heidi Harris, (Cleveland Critics Circle and Broadwayworld.com-Cleveland Outstanding Actor), Scott Esposito, Kadijah Wingo, Luke Wehner, Molly McFadden and Carolyn Demanelis — each develops a consistent character.
Director Michael Glavan has added some creative staging touches. George McCarty II’s costumes are era-correct. Franklin Circle Christian Church’s facility adds an intimacy and “holy” presence to the production.
Capsule judgment: Seat of the Pants Productions has a purpose of “selecting plays which raise potent questions — some specific to today and others that speak to human nature across the ages.” Bach at Leipzig fulfills that mission. Though it makes for a long sit, the play will be of interest for those interested in historical biographies, classic music and unusual play scripts.
For tickets go to www.seatofthepants.org.
[Written by Roy Berko, member: Cleveland Critics Circle & American Theatre Critics Association]