Satan vs God
14/03/2024 - 24/03/2024
Production Details
Written and Performed by | Deaon Griffin-Pressley
Directed by | Judy Barr
Cinematography by | André Russell
DGP Theatre Productions (Florida, USA)
Lucifer, fallen angel, begs God’s forgiveness. Is Satan responsible for all he is accused of? Have we heard him testify? This solo tour-de-force explores issues of religion, faith and humanity that are normally taboo and or censored.
Language: Performed in English
Available on-demand (0hr55)
Theatre (Physical theatre, Solo show, Philosophical, Literary, Contemporary) (recommended for ages 12+)
Website: www.satanvsgod.com
Trailer: vimeo.com/582945709
Dunedin Fringe: www.dunedinfringe.nz/events/satan-vs-god
Following its launch during the pandemic at the Edinburgh Fringe 2021, which saw the season and its shows pick up eight awards, including the Infallibles Awards for Best Venue and Best Show, the C ARTS digital programme now runs year-round, and brings selected work from the full programme to fringes and festivals around the world.
The year-round season features work created by artists from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Ireland, Korea, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Turkey, the UK and the US.
The C ARTS digital programme includes live-streamed and on-demand performance, film and video, visual arts, talks and discussions, workshops and events, from around the world, available year-round. The programme includes on-demand shows and live and interactive events, talks and workshop. Shows in the programme vary from month to month, as new work joins, or some pieces return to live performance.
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C ARTS also programmes and operates performance and visual arts spaces at C venues at the Edinburgh Fringe each August. More than a venue or an online platform, C ARTS offers creatives and artists, companies and shows support and advice with their creative work, with outreach and professional development, with press, and marketing, and arts industry liaison, and access to an online international creative community.
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Theatre , Dance-theatre , Contemporary dance , Solo , Digital presentation ,
0hr55
Not the same as being in the room
Review by Hannah Molloy 25th Mar 2024
It’s hard watching a theatre piece on screen. I love that it’s an option available and that it means festivals in Aotearoa can include international work in their programme, and also that international artists creating new work can expose it to new audiences, and it’s an approach that’s great for our collective carbon footprint. It’s just not the same as being in the room and it’s harder to feel sympathy for and engagement with the performance and the performers.
Satan vs God is a one-man theatre piece performed by Deaon Griffin-Pressley that purports to explore touchy subjects around Christian faith. It features Griffin-Pressley performing mostly against a projector screen with abstract imagery of clouds, flames and lava, all washed in an aggressive red light. If it was on a stage in front of me, I think it would work, but the camera picks up the edges of the screen and occasionally parts of the room, which looks to be some kind of classroom or office space, and Griffin-Pressley isn’t centred when he should be so one of his hands disappears out of shot from time to time. There are scenes filmed on a beautiful Floridian (I assume) beach – with regular beachgoers scattered across the sand and in the waves – where Griffin-Pressley dances gently wearing white trousers, gold paint and big feathery white wings. It feels distracting and the editing is a little jumpy – these are challenges very common to this type of performance produced for an online audience.
The narrative is Satan asking God’s forgiveness and for permission to return to heaven. God, only a voice, refuses and browbeats Satan back into subjugation. Satan rebels again and remains in Hell. It comes across like a naughty child being berated by an authoritarian father and throwing his toys, which I suppose is exactly what Satan and God were to each other.
Griffin-Pressley maintains a high intensity throughout the 50-minute piece and there are several moments of clever drama including his recitation of the Lord’s Prayer but it doesn’t stray very far from generic Christian interpretations of scripture and the role of these two biblical heavyweights.
At the end, Satan says humankind needs him, the evil, to understand what good is and I think this line is the starting point, where some development could shift this show away from petulance and arrogance into a deep and interesting inspection of the relationship between, and 21st century meaning of, ‘good’ and ‘evil’.
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