Actor Tom Bair’s recitation of the entire Gospel According
to St. Mark is not just an astonishing tour de force of memorization, but a
riveting journey through a text that seems familiar but sometimes raises more
questions than it answers.
Premiering on Oct. 15 at New York’s United Solo TheatreFestival, a ten-week series of solo performances, “St. Mark’s Gospel” runs about
two hours and contains all 15,992 words of the King James version. Sold out on
Oct. 15, another show was added on Nov. 15.
This initial performance took place in a small, off-Broadway
black-box theater. With no scenery except gray walls, the set consisted of a
red patio table and two chairs. Bair was seated onstage, occasionally
consulting a cell phone.
As the house lights dimmed, Japanese composer
Shigemasa Nakano’s ethereal music filled the room; sounds of traffic were also
heard and Bair’s cell phone rang. He answered it, then put it away and strode
forward to stand at center stage.
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| Tom Bair in St. Mark's Gospel |
Looking directly at the audience, with an open stance, he
began with a sense of earnest energy: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus
Christ, the son of God.” This Gospel gets right into the action, with none of
the introductory words of the other three. By the third line, John the Baptist is introduced: “the voice of one crying in the wilderness.”
It’s easy to listen to Bair’s "voice of one," with its medium weight and legato dynamics. This master actor skillfully maintains the tension of the
narrative. One joy of this production is that when the inevitable
mind-wandering occurs over the two hours, it doesn’t last long because Bair’s varied
line readings, vocal projection and crystal-clear articulation bring the
attention back.
Director Kathleen Conry’s blocking also captures our
interest, as Bair leans against a wall as a bystander in the temple, or uses
the table and chairs – most effectively when he sets a chair at center stage
and circles it, mocking the unseen man wearing purple and a crown of thorns.
Bair’s physical grace is most effective -- when the man with
the withered hand is healed, Bair’s outstretched hand straightens in a subtle
gesture. When he’s speaking as a character, he delicately varies his vocal pitch, so the focus remains on the words.
People usually encounter the Gospel in bits – the Sunday
readings or the Bible study passages – and hearing the text in one sitting
identifies recurring themes. This listener wondered why Mark’s Gospel is obsessed
with Jesus’ healing miracles and the fact that he often says “tell no man” they
occurred, but people spread the news anyway.
Mark is the shortest Gospel of the four and as Bair unfolds the
narrative, we realize there’s no Nativity in this Gospel and no Pentecost. No "good
Samaritan," no wedding at Cana, no Sermon on the Mount.
We wonder why the writer is so careful with very precise
identifications of place – “They came into the land of Gennasaret” … “He arose
and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon”? These details and several phrases
quoting Jesus in his language, Aramaic, lead some to believe that this
was an eyewitness account and the source was St. Peter.
How exciting it is, therefore, to hear this Gospel verbally
as if that eyewitness had just touched us on the arm, eager to share his story.
In “St. Mark’s Gospel,” Bair uses all of his considerable gifts to create a
brilliant theatrical and inspirational experience.
Note: in an interview after the performance, Bair said he
used the ancient “loci” (locations) memorization technique, where the speaker
imagines walking through a place he knows well and uses its rooms or features
as prompts. In Bair’s case, it was the Church of the Transfiguration in New
York, also known as the “Little Church Around the Corner” and associated with
the theatrical community.
If a church or organization wants to host a performance of “St. Mark’s Gospel,” Bair may be reached at bairtom@gmail.com. Click here for his website.
