College of Charleston Theatre's ‘Outrage' is courageous

Seeking knowledge can be dangerous. Just ask Eve, or Socrates, or English professor Dr. Daniel Rivnine. 'It's much more comforting to be sheep,' Dr. Rivnine explains to his slacker graduate student, Steven, in 'Outrage' at the College of Charleston's Chapel Theatre. Staged in the black-box theater, 'Outrage' by Itamar Moses has the makings of a Greek tragedy, a compelling story of courage, fear and ambition, but is structured in a Brechtian style. Speaking through revolutionary playwright Bertolt Brecht, Moses analyzes modern university politics by stringing together historical figures, Socrates, Menocchio, Galileo and Brecht, who challenged the inviolable

ideas of their times and suffered persecution by those in power. Likewise, director Allen Lyndrup has taken on an artistically and academically challenging play.

Lyndrup's large, talented cast and crew of students from the college delivers a profound production that is not without humor. Anchoring the cast are Ryan Masson and George Metropolis. Masson brilliantly masters the physicality of the duplicitous senior professor of classics, Dr. Lomax, whose fears of becoming archaic in the modern academic world reveal his lust for power.

Metropolis brings a philosophical authenticity to Dr. Rivnine, the newest faculty member who dares to challenge the status quo and Dr. Lomax. Nick Smithson as Steven smoothly transitions from charming apathy to determined outrage. Captivating the audience from beginning to end is Patrick Ruff as Brecht. The scenes set in ancient Athens are the weakest and at times awkward, but not without their comic virtue with Spencer Jones as Polites, Socrates' young student who eagerly tries to impress his mentor. Socrates' fate is well-known, but the scenes lack the power of the others. Jones then depicts a sensitive, young village priest caught in a heresy scandal in 16th-century Italy. The Greek-styled chorus strikes an ironic chord as judges and theater critics. The Greeks invented irony, you know.

Alex Kosbab's well-designed and constructed costumes incorporate the realistic tone of the play, but also capture the underlying humor. Concise lighting design and startling sound effects punctuate the gravity of the play's message.

With the functional set design, Miriam Callihan reflects Brecht's nonlinear plots and perhaps his mosaic mind.

Revolutionary ideas are scary. For the love of wisdom, 'Outrage' challenges us to live lives worth examining.