Last week I went to see The Scarlet Letter at Bay Street Theater.
Full disclosure – it’s directed by my father, Joe Minutillo, and written by Scott Eck, and my father.
I truly had no intention of writing about it – I honestly don’t even like The Scarlet Letter that much. I mean, come on – a woman sleeps with the love of her life, and then gets shamed for it? Where’s the joy in that?
But, this show is so much more than that. And what is stirs up in its audience is too important not to talk about.
A refresher for those of you who haven’t read The Scarlet Letter since high school, allows to introduce to you the synopsis, courtesy of the Bay Street website:
Set in the 1600s in a Puritan village, The Scarlet Letter is an account of the life of Hester Prynne, a married woman who becomes a social outcast, when after an adulterous affair she conceives a daughter during her husband’s long absence. She is required to wear the letter “A” for adultery on the breast of her gown. Refusing to name the father, Hester is forced to live a life set apart from nearly everyone she knows. Thanks to the intervention of the Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester and her daughter Pearl are permitted to stay together. When Hester’s missing husband, posing as a doctor, secretly returns as Roger Chillingworth, the stage is set for a story of sin, tragedy, and redemption. This show explores themes of legalism, sin, and guilt.
Legalism, sin, and guilt.
Let that sink in for a moment.
I’ll say it again.
Legalism, sin, and guilt.
Sound familiar?
It’s the 1600s, and we cast stones. We lower the status of people if they don’t ‘fit our ideals. We say things to divide. We use speech that incites hate. We try to keep our head above water in an effort to remember what matters most.
That is the heart of the play written by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
A play that was written in 1850.
1850.
Over one hundred years ago, and yet…how much have we changed?
That’s a question that you’ll have to answer for yourself, after you go see The Scarlet Letter, of course.
Tickets and additional information are available here.