Juniper and the Pagans

The plot of Juniper and the Pagans is, admittedly, and old bromide. In John Patrick's play, a consistently unsuccessful priest named Brother Juniper comes with his niece Rosita to Santiago de Gante, a Mexican village devoid of faith. At first scorned by the populace, Juniper restores the Catholic Church by wresting the town's people's patron saint, a chrome-plated cowboy called Santiago, from the evil General Braga, who runs a resort for the "canape-eaters" where a monastery once stood. Rosita, meanwhile, falls in love with Pepe, the local atheist, and accepts him when he finally sees the light.

To be sure, this is all built on a very old foundation. But Juniper and the Pagans takes advantage of a fine and clever script by Patrick, a superb acting job by David Wayne, and a host of good supporting performances to transcend both a time-worn plotline and a hesitant first act.Juniper is delightful entertainment; coming on the heels of several notable Pre-Broadway fiascos, it provides a refreshing respite from mediocrity and banality.

Wayne, as usual, magnificent. As Brother Juniper, he is gay and wistful, pleading and commanding, mute and eloquent. He has the gift of changing the audience's mood from mirth to melancholy by altering the tone of his voice. And his stage presence is remarkable; his one or two fluffs sounded almost like part of the script, and he steadied a wavering child actor without missing a line.

Patrick's script comments wryly on religion. Bunny, a "you-all" type from the southwestern United States, played with high humor by Louise Latham, claims as her faith "extinctionism." In her credo, "nothing matters... God created man to become extinct; in fact, the world ended six hundred years ago." Since, therefore, Bunny doesn't really exist, her cult tells her "anything I do doesn't matter--it's a divine religion."

Herman Weiss, another American tourist, explains to Juniper the depth of Judaism: "You don't understand, padre. You see, the Christians have never been prosecuted." Milton Selzer, who portrays Weiss, teams with Patricia Bright, his wife in the play, and Miss Latham to present a searing and ribald caricature of antiseptic American tourists in the earthy land of Mexico.

But even in a comedy there is room for gravity and beauty. Juniper holds a telling debate with Pepe about the nature of religion that would do some theologians proud. And when Juniper says, in reply to the General's scornful question, "What miracles have you seen?" that he has "seen the bright day follow the darkest night... I have seen individual acts of courage that redeemed the cowardice of nations." the entire audience is hushed.

At the end of the play, Juniper observes the faith he has re-awakened and says, "Man still goes on believing that tomorrow will be better. This faith is the greatest miracle of all--this is today's miracle, and tomorrow's, and tomorrow's." Patrick's writing is able to move this strongly, and yet it can at other times bring on riotous laughter. It is principally because of his considerable skill that the play goes deeper than the conventional story line.

Edward Atienza is amusing as old, deaf Don Vasco, and Mario Alcalde and Ellen Madison are appropriately exuberant as Pepe and Rosita. Oliver Smith's set is striking, and the sound effects are both unusual and effective.

Juniper converts more than a small village of Mexicans. To those who despaired of ever again seeing a good Pre-Broadway production, it brings vivid reassurance.