Review of Death & Pretzels' The Book of Maggie

Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called The Book of Maggie. It was by Brendan Bourque-Sheil and it was directed by Madison Smith. It was about a young woman named Maggie (Tia Pinson) who was having a hard time and felt suicidal. So Simon Peter (Collin Quinn Rice) tells Judas (Jake Baker), who is in hell, to go and help her so he might be able to get into heaven. Meanwhile Pontius Pilate (Nick Strauss) has his own project to work on in the form of Joan (Taylor Toms) who has had a near-death experience and is not super interested in the whole getting into heaven thing. It is about religion, endings, and forgiveness. I think this is a very interesting and well done show.

The concepts of heaven and hell are very present in this show. It is very interesting to see Maggie's views on Christian belief and see how she believes in it but wants to get away from it. She has a monologue about God and how she wants to die and go to hell just to get away from him. It is really sad to think of someone being haunted by something that is supposed to motivate people to be better. Joan has some of the same ideas as Maggie--she also feels like God won't leave her alone, that she is constantly being watched by him--but she deals with them in a different way. It is like everything is a Toys-R-Us commercial with her. She is very peppy and doesn't seem to take a lot of things seriously, not even death or damnation. She thinks that hell isn't actually that bad. And it doesn't seem to be--until you hear more from Judas and Pilate about how the boringness and solitude is what makes it hell. I think that is an interesting idea of hell, not to make it lava and the devil and demons tormenting you, but to make it just pure dullness.

There was a fascinating scene with Pilate, Joan, Maggie, and Judas all sitting around a bonfire on the beach talking like old friends. I really liked this scene because of the genuineness of it. When you think of the Bible and the characters of Pilate and Judas, you don't really think of straightforward speech. You expect to hear words like thou and believeth and begat. But they are just sitting around having chips and drinks like college friends not bread and wine like at the last supper. And they speak like people now. It is also a really cool contrast with the beginning where there is a clear line between heaven, hell, and earth. Judas and Pontius Pilate are watering plants at the beginning of the show, which seems like a much more biblical activity. But as the play goes on and the lines between heaven, hell, and earth start to blur, the characters are starting to see their similarities and forgetting which world they belong to.

There was a really interesting plot twist in the show that I want to talk about. So if you are ok with spoilers or already saw the show, you can read about it at Ada Grey Spoils It for You.

People who would like this show are people who like genuine conversations with biblical figures, interesting views on belief, and peppy near-dead girls. I think this is a really thought-provoking and funny show. It had really good performances and a good script. I really liked it.

Photos: Steve Bryant.