By Paul Horsley

The message of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus is that God touches only a few with genius, and rest of us don’t matter. Or is it, really? Those familiar with earlier versions of this Tony Award-winning 1979 play (and its 1982 film version) might remember the theme thus: Antonio Salieri is resentful toward God for anointing Mozart while leaving him, the obedient Imperial Court Composer, to die a forgotten mediocrity. What is less known is that over a span of 20 years Shaffer worked obsessively to sharpen the theme that was most important to him: that of absolution, of Salieri’s quest for forgiveness, both from God and from Mozart, for the sin of selfish ambition.

“What it comes down to is an intimate story of a man’s battle with God,” said Michael Grayman, who directs Spinning Tree Theatre’s production of Shaffer’s sixth and final version (1999) of the play, on a three-quarter thrust stage at The Arts Asylum. “And because he’s expressing Salieri’s emptiness, his feeling of mediocrity compared to Mozart, we wanted to show that emptiness in our design.”

The 140-seat venue fairly yearns for a pared-down production of what has frequently been a decadently lavish affair: Michael said the bright new company, which he co-founded with Andrew Parkhurst five years ago, strives to use this minimalism to advantage. “Even the costumes are based on ‘ideas of period,’ but you see the under-dressing, you see the corsets. You see the legs of the women underneath their skirts.”

Michael said he’s seen Amadeus in huge theaters and he always laments being so far from the action. “It’s meant to be done so that the audience is right there, just a few feet away. … Shaffer’s language is so gorgeous, there’s so much to listen to. So I thought, let’s have the audience come closer … be completely a part of the action.”

For Robert Gibby Brand (Salieri), who has performed and pondered Mozart’s music during his long career as an actor-singer, Amadeus is a chance to immerse himself in great music, and great language. He has no problem with the concept of genius, both in music and in theater. “To me there are pieces that absolutely move me to my core, and I have to wonder why? The great ones keep coming back because there’s something there that speaks to us. And the others fall away, as perhaps they should. That sounds cold, but history does a certain amount of culling.”

Shaffer’s Salieri finds himself in a position that could teach him humility, but doesn’t. “He is content with his life,” Michael said. “He has a lovely position working for the Court, and he thinks right from the start he has done everything correctly. He’s a good Catholic, he’s faithful to his wife, his does his job well and is praised for it. And people tell him he’s wonderful. He leads this sort of charmed life: He follows the rules.”

That is, until Mozart comes along. “And he’s forced to look at his music and say, Oh my gosh, I don’t have one-tenth of the talent that Mozart has. My compositions are basic compared to those of this child.”

In its final version, Amadeus really is about atonement, Michael added, as Salieri does everything he can to ruin Mozart’s career and then at the end of his long life tries, unsuccessfully, to seek forgiveness. Historically accurate? From a theatrical point of view, that shouldn’t matter, Shaffer has said. The crucial final encounter between the composers is pure fiction, for instance, yet “the objection that no evidence exists for such encounter is no excuse for not providing one,” Shaffer writes. “The playwright’s absolute obligations are clear: to obey the formal insistences of theater, employing Possibility and Credibility as his counselors.”

Amadeus also stars Michael Reiser (Mozart), Walter Coppage (Joseph II), Megan Herrera (Constanze), Andy Penn (van Swieten), Matthew Schmidli (Orsini-Rosenberg), Jordan Fox (von Strack) and Teal Holliday (Katherina Cavalieri). It runs April 30th through May 15th (with previews April 28th and 29th). Call (816) 569-5277 or go to spinningtreetheatre.com.

At top: Robert Gibby Brand / Photos by J. Robert Schraeder, Courtesy Spinning Tree Theatre.

To reach Paul Horsley, performing arts editor, send an email to paul@kcindependent.com or find him on Facebook (paul.horsley.501) or Twitter (@phorsleycritic).