A Prayer for Owen Meany
Based on the book by John Irving; Adapted by Simon Bent
New England Premiere
January 12-29, 2006
A Prayer for Owen Meany bewitches with its spiritual optimism and heroic infusion of divine possibility. It is, at its heart, an examination of the true meaning of faith and the future of America. Simon Bent's adaptation brings John Irving's (The World According to Garp and The Cider House Rules) unforgettable story of one small incredible boy, who just may be a messenger from God, brilliantly to life on stage.
Note: Contains adult language and themes.
"the best piece of theatre you'll see near Boston this year" - EdgeBoston.com
"Inspiring" - The Boston Globe
Program Notes
“Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.” C. S. Lewis
A Prayer for Owen Meany is one of John Irving’s most autobiographical works. Like his protagonist John, with whom he shares a name, Irving grew up in a house on Front Street in a small New Hampshire town, attended the town’s prestigious preparatory school, thanks to his stepfather’s position as a teacher, and spent a conflicted youth ignorant of his birth father’s identity. A Prayer for Owen Meany is also one of Irving’s most spectacular feats of Dickensian imagination; he has crafted a title character whose physical presence and voice indelibly impress themselves on the imagination. The work is many things, a memory, which follows an imperfect chronology, in which we do not always trust the narrator’s impressions, a comic study of New England archetypes uniquely appealing to those who have experienced New Hampshire stoicism firsthand; and ultimately a sublime meditation on faith, belief and the power of miracles.
For those who have read and loved the novel, the first response to the notion of an adaptation is often, “I don’t know how they’re gonna do it all.” John Irving’s 637-page opus devotes itself to the small story of a relationship between two best friends, but does it in verbally grandiose detail, with a panoply of characters ranging from the crotchety cook-cum-companion, to the oddball neighbor who may or may not have killed his wife, all examined in microscopic detail. The adaptor, Simon Bent, takes the stylized nature of Irving’s minutia and replaces it with liquid, spare prose that has a stylization all its own. He reinforces the imperfection and bias of John’s memories with a non-linear storytelling that draws its own parallels between events in Wheelwright’s life. Ultimately, both get to the heart of John Wheelwright’s dilemma: what does faith mean in the face of the miraculous? If, as Reverend Merrill posits, "doubt is the cornerstone of our faith in God", can we truly have faith without choice?
In many ways, Simon Bent’s adaptation of A Prayer for Owen Meany is more provocative than Irving’s novel. By excising many details and subplots, it refocuses the narrative on the personal crusades of the two main characters. John struggles more against his faith. He also devotes more of his energy to grappling with the more universal implications of the Vietnam War, instead of cataloguing it as just one of many major missteps of the American government. While reconfirming his own faith in the divine nature of his destiny, Owen excoriates organized religion and the Catholic Church. The stark inevitability of Owen’s faith is held in direct contrast to the doubt of Reverend Merrill, the begrudging belief of John Wheelwright and even the unquestioning confidence of Rector Wiggins. In many ways, Owen’s faith has more in common with the Christian thinkers of the earlier church than his opinions of their current practice might let on; while he rails against the unnatural lifestyle of nuns, he reads St. Thomas Aquinas who, like Owen, is incapable of seeing the world as anything other than a universe of instruments set in motion by a First Mover.
Aquinas once said,“to one who has faith, no explanation is necessary;” Johnny Wheelwright is a Christian because of Owen Meany and because of his involvement in the miracle for which Owen gave his life. But he and the play still struggle with the meaning of that faith, constantly revisiting events to establish fact versus belief, miracle versus circumstance and choice versus predestination. John seems to feel that he can only choose to believe in God, and God's greater purpose for Owen; to do otherwise would render Owen's sacrifice (and even in some ways, his mother's fate) meaningless. Though his experiences with Owen Meany have shaped John's life, neither John nor Owen nor any of the other characters in the play were forced into the choices they made. To do so would be "an unspeakable outrage." Difficult circumstances are often presented to us as individuals, by fate or a higher power, depending on our beliefs; it is how we address these challenges that allows us to exercise our free will. Ultimately, both John Irving and Simon Bent ask provocative questions, rather than give easy answers. To do otherwise, would deny both their characters and their audience the power of faith.