It's A.D. 1250, and the monks of Priseaux, France, are in a financial bind.
They're an order dedicated to faith and good works. The problem is that the only thing higher than their ideals is their overhead. Their revenue stream of pilgrims in search of miracles dried up after their saint stopped working miracles. Even the most desperate of local peasants is reluctant to part with the penny required for prayers when folk remedies might work just as well.
The monks are about to close up shop when a worldy minstrel offers a solution and the monks discover a wholly -- if unholy -- new meaning for the concepts of recycling and adaptive reuse.
Saints' relics, such as the finger of St. Mark or the head of John the Baptist, are in high demand at churches throughout Europe. With DNA testing eight centuries away from discovery, the monks have what amounts to a warehouse of treasures stored up in the local cemetery.
Michael Hollinger's farce "Incorruptible" that opened Wednesday at Mountain Playhouse in Jennerstown follows the intricate twists of deception and justification as the monks literally raise the dead in their quest to balance their books.
It's only when the pope's impending visit forces them to produce an Incorruptible -- the body of someone so holy that the corpse resists corruption and decay -- that their scheme in ersatz relics is threatened with exposure.
With the experienced cast, headed by David Garwood as a pragmatic CEO of an abbot and Nick Ruggeri as his equally practical second-in-command, Brother Martin, the farce's outrageous humor is tempered by a warm, comforting message about faith lost and regained.
As the cynical and devotedly secular minstrel Jack, Tom Schaller provides comedic counterpoint to the monks' higher ideals, most especially evident in his relationship with his wife-in-all-but-law, Marie, played with ditzy energy and good humor by Jennifer Blood.
Suzanne Ishee also increases the level of laughter as Marie's mother, a shrewd, practical and tight-fisted peasant. Scott Wakefield does double duty as the slow-witted but well-meaning Brother Olf, who bears the brunt of Brother Martin's temper, as well as the fearsome Agatha, who's the abbott's sister as well as the abbess of a rival order with a newly popular, miracle-working saint.
Hollinger's farce is clever and literate. Those who pay attention to its words as well as its actions will reap double benefit. Even on second hearing, it remains as richly witty as it was when performed at Pittsburgh's City Theatre in 1996.
Rob Barron directs with neat visual comic touches throughout.
Seen at the first matinee, the show had yet to gather the ease and forward propulsion necessary to realize all of its comic potential. Fortunately, by the time you see it, that shouldn't be a problem. Additional Information:
Details
'Incorruptible'Produced by : Mountain Playhouse
When : Continues through July 17 at 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays and 3 p.m. Sundays
Admission : $16 to $27
Where : Route 985, 1/2 mile north of Route 30 in Jennerstown, Somerset County
Details : 814-629-9201 or the Web site
