What I liked
Great cast, extremely well-written and researched! INCREDIBLY well produced!
What I didn't like
With certain actors, I sometimes couldn’t hear the last word in some sentences, since I was in the last row.
My overall impression
To put it briefly, Nicaea is 12 Angry Men: The Bible Edition— you get to hear elegant arguments for and against certain interpretations of scripture passionately argued by actors who seem to deeply care about what they’re saying. (This is actually a big deal, because too often when I see shows that get heady or have elevated speech, it seems like the actor is just a word machine that doesn’t have a clue what they’re speaking, but I felt totally convinced that everyone both knew and truly cared about their individual arguments, which was impressive and made for an excellent ensemble piece.) The play centers around these debates that resulted in the Nicean Creed, and what historically took place to solidify early Christian belief. While it shows some behind the scenes drama behind the debates, my favorite part was when they really got into the nature of language itself, and what certain interpretations implicate— really fascinating lines of thought. The writing is superb, and the dramaturgy required to pull off a historical piece like this is… amazing. Also, I cannot stress enough how top notch the production quality was— Even though I was seeing a preview at Fringe, it felt like I was watching a show in the second week of a two month run— the tech was seamless, including set changes, and the cast was well rehearsed. Even the programs were impressive, complete with collectible trading cards! This is a good tentpole show to schedule some viewing around when you’re figuring out your Fringe watching, for certain.
