GMU’s Center for the Arts harnesses fresh creative elements for a streaming production of ‘Luther’s Trumpet’

Kevin Murray as Johann Tetzel (left) and Edward Gero as Martin Luther in “Luther’s Trumpet.” [Mason School of Theater]

By David Siegel

Mason Arts at Home, the streaming service
of George Mason University, continues to present outstanding performing arts
for a broad audience watching from the safety and comfort of their homes.

“Luther’s Trumpet” is streaming now
through June 4 at 5 p.m. It’s free but registration is required. 

“We’re bringing together some of
region’s top professional actors, talented Mason theater students, and
outstanding community performers in a production space unlike any other I’ve
ever seen,” says Rick Davis, dean of GMU’s College of Visual and Performing
Arts and the director of “Luther’s Trumpet.”

The virtual production will be a “true
hybrid of in-person action on stage interacting with a world created online via
Zoom,” Davis says.

“Luther’s Trumpet” is set in the 1520s as Martin Luther’s Reformation is in its early pivotal months after Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. The play depicts Luther’s struggles with external forces as well as internal battles with the Devil.

Celebrated historian James Reston Jr
penned “Luther’s Trumpet” for the stage, adapting it from his 2016 book Luther’s
Fortress.

Craig Wallace as Pope Leo X and Kevin Murray as Johann Tetzel. [Mason School of Theater]

For “Mason at Home,” Davis cast
prominent D.C.-area professional actors, including multiple Helen Hayes Award
recipient Edward Gero in the role of Martin Luther and multiple Helen Hayes
nominee Craig Wallace as Pope Leo X.

Kevin Murray of Fairfax County,
interim director of the Mason School of Theater, portrays Johann Tetzel, who is
known for helping sinners.

This production of “Luther’s Trumpet” marks
the retirement of professor Murray, who has been with GMU for three decades. Murray
called acting his “first passion” in a recent interview. “After 30 years, I will retire from the university
this summer to explore other interests and devote more time to my career as an
actor in film and television.”

Murray is known in the theater and film community for championing new works. He has also
taught on-camera acting techniques to children with Acting for Young People, a
component of the Mason Community Arts Academy.

U.S. Court of Appeals Judge David
Tatel takes on the role of the Devil, while Mason student Hasan Crawford of Fairfax
County performs as Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor.

The play was performed and recorded
at the Center for the Arts Concert Hall. It employs a unique “Moving Story
Window Wall” projection technology, a concept developed by Christopher
d’Amboise, a professor of dance heritage at GMU. The technology blends
full-scale scenic effects and on-stage actors with others appearing remotely in
real time.

David Siegel is an Annandale resident who reports on the performing arts.