James Krag performed “According to Mark” last Saturday in Markel Auditorium.
With nothing but a four-legged stool, a stage, and bursting expressions of voice, actor James Krag presented the Gospel of Mark, shot through with vigor and a precise artistic vision.
One actor. One prop. Seventy-eight scenes of the Gospel of Mark.
Hillsdale students, families, and friends flocked to the memorized, one-man reading of Mark on Saturday evening.
“It’s remarkable— ha, re-Mark-able— that he memorized the entire Gospel of Mark, and not only memorized it, but memorized it word for word in an antiquated form of the English language,” said junior Isabella Zink after the performance. “It sounded natural.”
Zink said she was surprised how every word was distinguishable, even as Krag sped through parables, dialogue, and action beats.
“Most people can’t talk that fast and be that clear,” Zink said.
Krag said that performing Shakespeare familiarized him with the King James version of the Bible, which was translated in Shakespeare’s time.
Krag said his inspiration for the performance came early in life.
“When I was in high school, I read a review of a production a British actor was doing in NYC and I remember thinking, ‘what a wonderful idea.’ When I started working on it many years later, I saw how raw and fast-paced the Gospel was. I decided to try to forget everything I knew about the Jesus story and approach the gospel as I would any other script.”
Krag said he hoped that his performance would help students experience the story of Christ in a new light.
“I find a very human Jesus in Mark, whom I could really identify with,” Krag said.
Through Krag’s dramatic retelling, Christ’s parables were layered with deeper meaning than a straight reading of the text would provide.
With almost nothing else on stage, Krag filled the space by painting scenes with masterful gestures, showing a vast cornfield or high stones of Jerusalem. He evoked different people through alternations of his voice, from snarling demons to shouting Pharisees; and he summoned objects into life with perfect motion— a flip of a Caesar’s coin, the “wineskin” cupped close to the heart, and the tender hand he “holds” to raise the young girl.
“It was very dramatic and emotional,” sophomore Caroline Love said. “I feel like he was on the verge of tears. It was really good.”
Junior Juliana Undseth said it was refreshing to see these stories acted out in such a powerful way, and Krag himself described the Gospel of Mark as fast-paced and visceral.
“I had read commentaries that said Mark was just a collection of stories with no throughline and I found that not to be true,” Krag said. “There is a very obvious throughline, a story arc, a beginning, middle, and end. It was a very exciting journey and it changed my relationship with Jesus.”
Krag’s Jesus was dynamic. At first, his young Jesus trembled at the knees, and his shrill voice cracked, but soon after, the developing Christ called the fishermen to him with warm, empathetic authority.
“I liked the blocking of the play, the way he moved,” said junior Ryan Bagely. “It was a subtle way of adding to the story, drawing out the thematic elements.”
Krag brought the action to the stage as vividly as if it had been filled with props and actors. The disciples’ travels became a great circle paced around the stage, each step carefully weighted to show the burden of a journey. The children flocking Jesus are shown in sunny smiles and a gentle hand leading them by the knees. Krag leapt from character to character with nothing more than a few steps and a startling new expression.
“He puts subtle spins that make you realize other plausible interpretations,” said senior Malia Ambrosia.
“A student said to me after the show that she now realized the scripture can be spoken of in many different ways,” Krag said in an email. “That’s exactly right. Hearing it spoken in a slightly different way can shine a light on a teaching or an idea in a way we haven’t thought of before and help build a deeper and closer relationship with the Lord.”
