“The Whale” and the importance religion plays

 

[This Review Contains Spoilers. I have warned you in Red.]

Samuel D. Hunter in his play “The Whale” not only tackles the themes of parenting, obesity, teaching, and writing, but also manages to comment, quite heavily, on religion. Charlie, a 600-pound queer male living on his couch decides he needs to reconnect with his teenage daughter Ellie before he dies. Throughout the course of the play you meet his nurse friend, Liz, his Ex-wife Mary, and his new acquaintance Elder Thomas, a 19-yr-old Mormon Witness.

Religion is what seems to drive the plot in this play. The first character we meet other than Charlie is Elder Thomas, a witness for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Each character after him has something, usually negative, to say about his religion. Liz comments in the next seen saying,

“I fucking hate Mormons. I shouldn’t say that. I don’t fucking hate MormonsI fucking hate Mormonism. How can you believe in a God like that? He gives us the Old Testament, fine, we’ll all be Jews. Then Jesus shows up and he’s all like, “Hey, so I’m the son of God, stop being Jewish, here’s the New Testament, sorry” And then he shows up a second time and he’s like, “oh shit, sorry! Here’s this other thing it’s called the Book of Mormon” and after all that, we’re still supposed to wait around for him to come back a third fucking time to kill us all with holy fire and dragons, and… I’m just saying why would God just not give us all the right answers to begin with?”

Not only does Liz give her 2-cents, but so does Ellie (See Clip Below). This play is so concerned with this aspect of Mormon Religion and without it we would not have a plot. [SPOILERS ALERT! For the rest of this ¶.] Awhile after Elder Thomas tells Charlie about the church, Charlie tells him about Alan, his deceased partner. Alan was raised Mormon but after he fell in love with Charlie he left the faith. When asked by his father to re-attend he did and was never the same; he quit eating and just deteriorated till his body shut down. Liz later elaborates on the story telling Elder Thomas that Alan was her brother. Alan and the Mormon Church connect our characters, and also make our plot possible. Charlie and Alan fall in love and Charlie leaves his family, Alan returns to the Mormon Church and later passes away from a form of depression. Alan’s passing causes Charlie to quit caring and gain his 400+ pounds, which in turn brings Liz to help him. Elder Thomas got kicked of his mission for the Mormon Church and found himself here.

Alan and religion are the two pieces that make this plot possible. However both are seemingly portrayed in a negative light. Alan is the cause of Charlie’s happiness, but also his great anguish and eventual death. Each character in the play bashes/degrades religion in some way. Liz and Ellie hate it openly, Charlie blames it for killing Alan, and Elder Thomas even says that he doesn’t feel like he is really doing any good. So my question is, why does the author Sam Hunter use Religion so heavily to drive his plot yet beat it up at every turn?  The answer I found lies in his past. Sam Hunter grew up in an Episcopal Church, but upon being asked in an interview if he grew up in a religious family, he answered, “My family was Episcopalian; my mom is religious, but in a very standard protestant way. I went to the school because it offered a better education.” We can assume based on this answer that he was aware of religion but never really cared or had a use for it. I presume this is why we see religion as a base for this play’s plot but as a base beaten upon heavily. To add salt to the wound, the one character that is portrayed as religious, Elder Thomas, is really just a joke. [SPOILERS ALERT! For the rest of this ¶.] He wants to have the happiness he sees in his parents, but is a “former” pot addict and was kicked from his mission for beating up his partner for not caring about the faith/mission enough. I can’t help but feel that this character struggling with religion and belonging is somehow an autobiographical look into our author.

Over all this play is a beautiful display of the human life. We all have a pasts and futures, regrets and dreams; the question is how will loss and heartache affect us? Will we be overweight, mad at life, pretending to be someone we aren’t? Or will we look at life as something precious and beautiful? In great contrast to the plot and nature of this play, is Our Town by Thornton Wilder. I challenge you to read/watch it and see a whole new side of the struggle of life, in this beautifully written piece about cherishing life’s moments that are simple and sweet.

Now for a little of my own opinion; by the end of this play I was done reading it. I would not go as far as to say it was bad, but I struggled with some of the themes and content. It was well written and crafted but something I was glad I only read and did not have to watch. For those who are offended by religion bashing, homosexuality, or profanity, this is not your play. I suggest you go see Our Town instead.

I’ve included a clip on Ellie’s view of Religion taken from SpeakEasy Stage Company’s adaptation of the play. Enjoy!

Sources Referenced:

Aucoin, Don. “SpeakEasy Production Takes ‘The Whale’ to a Deep Place – The Boston Globe.” BostonGlobe.com. The Boston Globe, 11 Mar. 2014. Web. 03 May 2016.

Fuckyeahgreatmonologues. “The Whale/ Samuel D. Hunter/ Liz.” Great Monologues. N.p., 31 July 2013. Web. 03 May 2016.

Jones, Chris. “Review: ‘The Whale’ at Victory Gardens Theater.” Tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Chicago Tribune, 16 Apr. 2013. Web. 12 May 2016.

Liner, Elaine. “Think You’re Fat? Go See The Whale, a Play about XXXL Life.” Dallas Observer. Dallas Observer, 20 Oct. 2015. Web. 12 May 2016.

Lowry, Mark. “TheaterJones | Q&A: Samuel D. Hunter | Circle Theatre.” TheaterJones.com. Theater Jones North Texas Performing Arts News, 22 Mar. 2013. Web. 03 May 2016.

Monaghan, John. “REVIEW: Difficult ‘Whale’ Gets Beached at Ringwald.” Detroit Free Press. Detroit Free Press, 7 Oct. 2015. Web. 12 May 2016.

“THE WHALE – Ellie and Religion.” Youtube.com. SpeakEasy Stage Company, 10 Mar. 2014. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.