Where to start?
I puzzled for days over this play.
I WANTED TO LIKE IT.
I've long admired and wanted to see Richard Chamberlain on stage for the longest time and I Love Live Theater.
That said, I will have to steal a quote from a friend who also happens to be a veteran theater producer. She said, "It doesn't work on so many levels."
First and foremost I blame the writing -
It is a quagmire of quicksand.
Horrible outdated dialogue.
The F-bomb was used so gratuitously as to quickly become ludicrous.
Ms. Shields' lines: "effing movie star making effing 8 million dollars a picture and no effing Dr. can tell me what's effing happening to my daughter?"
Really???!!!! WTF???? OMG!!
That ignoramus speech pattern died in the nineties dude. And, What does the first part of that sentence have to do with the last?
Only Burke and Damien used the F-bomb to their amusing advantage...otherwise all its other constant uses were unimaginative.
Even the actors seemed to find the writing distasteful.
Mr. Chamberlain did not walk on water.
This breaks my heart to say: he seemed to be Missing In Action - irrespective of his constant presence on stage.
His dramatic moments were anything but.
Ms. Shields could not rise above the awful dialogue she was condemned to execute.
Harry Groener as Burke was the one true light - he rose to the occasion and brought the stage alive with his presence.
The Art Direction was distracting and confusing: the side "confessionals" (fretwork) were overly lit and the source of the demon's voices ~ I kept looking there to see if there were actions I should be watching. Nope. Just a place for the actors to get off stage. Sort. Of.
The noises and voices of the demons did their job: I jumped out of my skin each time with the raise in volume.
Finally, we gave them a well deserved round of applause - deserved because of what they had to slog through ~ and knowing they'd have to do it again and again, while we had the reprieve of leaving it all behind.

More Ingmar Bergman than Blatty, complete with Merrin as annoying,unnecessary greek chorus telling us all what to feel (never a good idea). Brooke Shields still can't act, & the possession staging felt like an afterthought.

This is a new adaptation of the novel on which the film "The Exorcist" was also based. This adaptation was more of a character study and a theological debate about the existence of Satan and the effect of that believe on all of the characters. I found the acting and was terrific and their exploration of their personal beliefs fascinating. So much so that I left the theater reflecting on my personal beliefs.

If I could have, I actually would've rated this 3 and a half stars. It was a little better than ok. I don't regret going, but I'll be honest, had I paid full price, I think I'd be disappointed. The play piggybacked off the movie classic, but if the attendee hasn't seen the movie, they may be a bit lost. With that being said, if you are a big horror movie buff and want to see this for a terror thrill, don't go. It was based more on the duality of good vs evil, faith vs doubt and triumph over these opposing beliefs. On a positive note, Geffen Playhouse is awesome. I'd go see a production there any day!!