How to Write a New Book for the Bible at Round House Theatre

How to Write a New Book for the Bible

Round House Theatre
4545 East-West Highway Bethesda

Writers are told to write what they know. But as Bill Cain (Equivocation) discovers in writing about his family, sometimes those we are closest to are the biggest mysteries of all. In a powerful, beautiful new play taken from Cain's own experiences, a man moves in with his ailing but always funny mother when she becomes too frail to care for herself. Their reunion heals old wounds, opening a heartfelt and humorous new chapter in their relationship. A Jesuit priest as well as an award-winning playwright, Cain brings a fascinating viewpoint to this look at why the details of our lives and loves matter. "Bracingly personal, smart, funny, affecting...sharp wit and penetrating intelligence" - San Francisco Chronicle

Thru - May 5, 2013

Tuesdays: 7:30pm

Wednesdays: 7:30pm

Thursdays: 7:30pm

Fridays: 8:00pm

Saturdays: 3:00pm & 8:00pm

Sundays: 3:00pm

Price: $10-$63

Show Type: Comedy/Drama

Running Time: 2 hours 30 mins with 1 intermission

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How to Write a New Book for the Bible Reviews

Average Rating based on 7 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Washington Post - Recommended

"...In fact, director Ryan Rilette could not have found a more amiable foursome to portray Bill and his clan as they amble in and out of the mortally dark edges of Daniel Conway's simple set (a small room that functions mainly as the family's home but flexibly takes on the suggestion of medical offices and other locales). Mitchell Hebert is dapper and twinkly as Pete, the appealing patriarch who died too young. MaryBeth Wise is amusingly forceful and direct as Mary, a center of gravity around whom the others orbit."

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- Nelson Pressley

DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended

"...As someone who considers himself more spiritual than religiously affiliated, I was weary about Bill Cain's How to Write a New Book for the Bible at Round House Theatre. The tears and laughter that came over me at various points throughout this evening of deeply affecting theatre can attest to the fact that this play is for everyone, no matter what religion with which you are or are not affiliated."

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- Rick Westerkamp

Talkin Broadway - Recommended

"...Director Ryan Rilette, who has worked with Cain in the past, maintains the light touch as Bill presents moments of his family's history: the wedding of Pete and Mary, the birth of both sons, experiences of growing up (such as a lovely vignette about young Bill selecting a Halloween pumpkin) and moving on (Paul's reminiscences of his service in Vietnam), all moving steadily toward the inevitable end."

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- Susan Berlin

Washington City Paper - Recommended

"...How to Write a New Book marks Rilette's directorial debut at Round House, and it's a promising one. In lesser hands, this play could be a preachy, nonlinear mess. The main narrative follows Cain caring for his mother, but the play includes dozens of flashbacks, with Mitchell Hebert and Danny Gavigan, the actors who play his father and brother, adding levity when they pitch in to play hairdressers and doctors. At the center of the play is Ray Ficca, who depicts the playwright-priest without pretention or preciousness."

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- Rebecca J. Ritzel

Washingtonian - Highly Recommended

"...It takes a special kind of talent and a special kind of subject to make art out of a memoir. Bill Cain has both. How to Write a New Book for the Bible, currently having its East Coast premiere at Round House Theatre, is the third of Cain's plays to run in Washington in the past two years (following Equivocation at Arena Stage and 9 Circles at Forum Theatre), and it might be the most powerful and moving yet. Employing deft writing skills and a sharp sense of humor, Cain explores the universality of the human condition through his family, drawing on life, death, love, and faith with the wisdom of a prophet, the insight of a shrink, and the wry comedy of a sitcom character perpetually bewildered by those closest to him."

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- Sophie Gilbert

Washington Blade - Recommended

"...Though Cain's play is amusing and endearing, its center is about loss and pain. Ever the good son, Cain the playwright instructs that a bad situation can be made better- definitely a lesson worth sharing. His mother would be proud."

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DCTheatreScene - Recommended

Every creative work is at least a little autobiographical, and rarely more so than in Round House Theatre’s newest production. The thread that playwright Bill Cain uses to weave together his story — narrated by a man named Bill, about a family called Cain — is very nearly transparent. We don’t merely notice the man behind How To Write A New Book For The Bible; we see his life and the lives of his loved ones reflected and writ large, into a sizable tapestry sewn of many small, sad moments.

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- Hunter Styles