Brother Sam has convinced his congregation that he knows the exact date and time of the rapture, when the faithful will be miraculously taken up to heaven, leaving their clothes behind them. Unbeknownst to his buddy, Al, he’s been embezzling money from the collection plate for months. When Raptured opens the church members have started the countdown and Sam is preparing to disappear with Al and the money, during all the commotion and confusion. Martha, a boisterous “goodtime gal” if there ever was one (sit on the front row, guys) is desperate for a farewell boinkfest with Sam, before they’re dragged to the great beyond. Ruth, a beloved member of the Third Baptist Church of Uncertain, Texas, is struggling to leave an abusive husband, and (because she’s the church accountant) realizes there’s something sketchy about Brother Sam.
Playwrights Matt Coleman and Matt Lyle have written a slapstick comedy that has the Protestant population of Texas nailed. Speaking as a native myself, the recognizable characters you might find in any Texas church are present and accounted for. The congenial middle-aged ladies who do most of the baking, the troubled teen boys struggling to keep themselves “pure” before marriage. The barely closeted musical directors, whose devotion is nonetheless without question. The “hippie” war veterans. I’m not suggesting that Baptists have more than their share of hypocrisy, but (for comedic purposes alone, I’m sure) Third Baptist seems to have quite a bit. Though apart from Brother Sam, the rest of the characters are in dead earnest. Sinners though they may be, they seem to truly love the Lord.
Coleman and Lyle engage numerous familiar theatrical devices. And sex devices, too. All in all, Raptured is a pretty raucous mashup of madcap, chutzpah, raunch, low comedy, high comedy, and cringeworthy crassness. There’s the three identical bags (one filled with truly impressive “marital aids”) mistaken identity, the sweet but clueless sidekick, the young couple who are fighting like mad to resist their primordial urges and of course, the brawling guys who appear to be sharing pleasure. (Kismet?) What makes Raptured such phenomenal comedy is Lyle and Coleman’s astonishing instincts. Their timing, lingo, imagination, blue streak and sense of absurdity are the stuff of genius. When Gracie finds the hippie, the sidekick and the choir master in the thick of man-on-man tomfoolery, it’s less about the awkward situation, than her deadpan response. As I can attest, and these two brilliant Katzenjammers must know (only too well) it’s not about the ingredients, it’s how you put them together.
Theatre 3 presents Raptured, playing April 25th-May 19th, 2019. 2800 Routh Street, Suite 168, Dallas, Texas 75201. 214-871-3300. theatre3dallas.com