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You're inside the sunken, pulverized body of the German-commissioned submarine, U-401, after fighting like hell for a country you're not sure you believe in anymore. It's the Spring of 1943. The world is at war above your head, but you're 200 meters below the surface of the ocean. 2 million pascals of force squeeze the vessel around you, conspiring to crush you beyond all recognition. You're surrounded by your dead fellow crewmen. The battery is dying. The oxygen is running out. And there's a monster on board with you.
2015 New York Innovative Theatre Award WinnerS
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Directed by
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"Cassidy and his top-notch team have translated [Lovecraft's] story’s scant 5000 or so words into a full-length, fully immersive experience. ... [W]hat a singular monster [Heinrich] is ... The first act handles the setup of all this information masterfully and quickly. ... Incredibly brave and patient ... [A] genuinely magnificent piece of theater. Watching a talented artist like Cassidy deconstruct and then reconstruct the source code of Lovecraft’s story and style is a helluva thing to see. ... Like the characters in the play, you are completely submerged in the events of the play, and when THE TEMPLE OR LEBENSRAUM wants to it strikes its audience like a perfectly aimed torpedo. It’s one of those rare creatures of indie theater where the production, the performances, the material, and the design tangle their tentacles together into a monstrously entertaining whole." - Mitch Montgomery, Surreal Time Press
"Death is the undiscovered country, and THE TEMPLE is an expedition to map the unseeable. ...The men (played by a remarkable ensemble as weary, weathered lost souls too discordantly perfect to single anyone out) operate like the guts of the machine they inhabit, armored and smothered like the paranoid Third Reich, acting as one but fraying into squabbles and accusations and brawling like the gears of a clock grinding into immobility, periodically speaking in unison or sounding recurrent thematic refrains in Nat Cassidy’s intricate script, a kind of funerary chorale. ... The ship’s doomed mission and pointless cause are made plain, while nothing is simple about the enormity of the destruction these men are part of ... And as Heinrich, Matthew Trumbull gives a performance of titanic existential dissonance, at once bemused and recriminating, as he channels but does not explain the ghastly absurdity around him. ... Saundra Yaklin’s set design brilliantly enforces the claustrophobia, placing the audience around the stage area’s corridor-like space to mimic the Jonah’s-whale ship interior, seating us like juries over the action and under each other’s scrutiny. Morgan Zipf-Meister’s lighting shapes the space and paces the ordeal in a catastrophic choreography, as failing lanterns strobe manically or emergency lamps wane like breathless candles. ... [T]he play ends on a masterful note of narrative suspension you should witness for yourself, it’s clear, and inescapable, and maybe even reassuring, that there’s always a longer way down." - Adam McGovern, Fanchild
"This tense, literally breathtaking situation is the stuff of a story by 20th century visionary H.P. Lovecraft and of an even better dramatization by Nat Cassidy. ... THE TEMPLE OR LEBENSRAUM will bring you on that terrifying, liberating adventure. ... Most amazing ... scares everyone to death ... Effortlessly universal in the way ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT tries to be, Nat Cassidy’s writing and direction gently delve into the question of “why” we do things. ... There is something very human about taking care of your own, and there will be some very difficult choices for the crew to make about who gets to breathe the precious U-Boot air. The Lovecraftian influence comes at certain times, definitely making me vow never to join the navy, but THE TEMPLE is a mostly non-supernatural drama that will appeal to anyone. We’re all human. Right?" - Ed Malin, NY Theater Now
"Nat Cassidy's adaptation of Lovecraft's THE TEMPLE is such a delight. Well, as much of a delight as anything involving mutilation, suffocation, cannibalism, Nazis and the elder gods can be. Cassidy is a strong storyteller; one who fully appreciates just how powerful the combination of excellent actors, fraught situations, and an audience's imagination can be. ... Cassidy knows that the real drama comes, not from any monsters, but from the relationships between the characters, especially in how they react to the Nazi officer in their midst. ... Watching the character go from a bumbling PR man to a psychotic killer is amazing. ... I should also point out that one of my favorite moments of the play was during a scene where the men were running out of air. The actors were arranged on the floor trying to breathe. No dialogue. Just breathing. The amazing thing is that the audience was rapt the entire time. ... There were a number of times where I started to feel claustrophobic. In addition to being an excellent playwright, Cassidy is a strong director, creating a taut, well-paced drama. Unfortunately, THE TEMPLE, or, LEBENSRAUM ends its nearly sold-out run tonight. I have no doubt it will make another appearance in the future." - Byrne Harrison, Stagebuzz
"A horrorshow of the claustrophobic lives of German submariners and the evil that consumes them ... [A] living, breathing, immersive spectacle. ... Make[s] the horror of the sea, of WWII, and of the Lovecraftian-influenced Gnostic psychodrama all too real. ... [Heinrich is] one of the most chilling displays of inhumanity that I’ve ever seen onstage. He is a true devil, in the most Christian sense of the word, all charm and bonhomie, doing nothing more than opening the door to horrors that the regular men of the ship seem all-to-easily able to commit." - Michael Niederman, New York Theater Review
"Successfully erasing 'the fourth wall' between the actors and the audience, Nat Cassidy, the author and director of THE TEMPLE, or, LEBENSRAUM turns the stage of The Brick, a small Williamsburg theater, into a World War II German submarine. While the characters dive into the depths, the viewers immerse themselves into the play, sharing the sailors’ nightmares and fears. One cannot help but shudder when the lights suddenly go off, and the sounds of torpedoes pierce the air. All of these features create the impression that there is no escape from the experience. Even the funny intermission announcement that everyone is expected back on board in 10 minutes is only a short gulp of fresh ocean air before the boat submerges again. ... The sailors’ tired and smutty faces stare right at the viewers, as though reproaching them for not helping to move the vessel forward. ... Tortured by both real and psychological dangers, the sailors nevertheless preserve their sense of humor ... reminding us that even in the worst of times there’s always something to smile about. ... Although “The Temple” has a specific political context, even those who do not know a lot about German history will enjoy the play. It is not only the story of Nazi Germany; it is also the story of soldiers, protecting their country and of individuals willing to survive in the face of grave danger. In addition, the setting and sounds draw us into the play, compelling us to relate to the sailors and make their thoughts and nightmares our own. Not every day can we find ourselves on a submarine, and neither can we expect such total immersion from every theater performance. This alone makes Cassidy’s show memorable, engaging and worth our time and attention." - Ekaterina Lalo, Reviewfix
"Does an effective job of imparting the mundane horrors of life on board a submarine. ... Lovecraft fans will be happy to see one of his lesser stories brought to life, but the weird science themes are just there for flavor. The true goal of the show is to explore the lives of men who fought for the wrong side of a war. THE TEMPLE OR LEBENSRAUM does this admirably."
- Charles Battersby, Theater for Nerds
"Death is the undiscovered country, and THE TEMPLE is an expedition to map the unseeable. ...The men (played by a remarkable ensemble as weary, weathered lost souls too discordantly perfect to single anyone out) operate like the guts of the machine they inhabit, armored and smothered like the paranoid Third Reich, acting as one but fraying into squabbles and accusations and brawling like the gears of a clock grinding into immobility, periodically speaking in unison or sounding recurrent thematic refrains in Nat Cassidy’s intricate script, a kind of funerary chorale. ... The ship’s doomed mission and pointless cause are made plain, while nothing is simple about the enormity of the destruction these men are part of ... And as Heinrich, Matthew Trumbull gives a performance of titanic existential dissonance, at once bemused and recriminating, as he channels but does not explain the ghastly absurdity around him. ... Saundra Yaklin’s set design brilliantly enforces the claustrophobia, placing the audience around the stage area’s corridor-like space to mimic the Jonah’s-whale ship interior, seating us like juries over the action and under each other’s scrutiny. Morgan Zipf-Meister’s lighting shapes the space and paces the ordeal in a catastrophic choreography, as failing lanterns strobe manically or emergency lamps wane like breathless candles. ... [T]he play ends on a masterful note of narrative suspension you should witness for yourself, it’s clear, and inescapable, and maybe even reassuring, that there’s always a longer way down." - Adam McGovern, Fanchild
"This tense, literally breathtaking situation is the stuff of a story by 20th century visionary H.P. Lovecraft and of an even better dramatization by Nat Cassidy. ... THE TEMPLE OR LEBENSRAUM will bring you on that terrifying, liberating adventure. ... Most amazing ... scares everyone to death ... Effortlessly universal in the way ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT tries to be, Nat Cassidy’s writing and direction gently delve into the question of “why” we do things. ... There is something very human about taking care of your own, and there will be some very difficult choices for the crew to make about who gets to breathe the precious U-Boot air. The Lovecraftian influence comes at certain times, definitely making me vow never to join the navy, but THE TEMPLE is a mostly non-supernatural drama that will appeal to anyone. We’re all human. Right?" - Ed Malin, NY Theater Now
"Nat Cassidy's adaptation of Lovecraft's THE TEMPLE is such a delight. Well, as much of a delight as anything involving mutilation, suffocation, cannibalism, Nazis and the elder gods can be. Cassidy is a strong storyteller; one who fully appreciates just how powerful the combination of excellent actors, fraught situations, and an audience's imagination can be. ... Cassidy knows that the real drama comes, not from any monsters, but from the relationships between the characters, especially in how they react to the Nazi officer in their midst. ... Watching the character go from a bumbling PR man to a psychotic killer is amazing. ... I should also point out that one of my favorite moments of the play was during a scene where the men were running out of air. The actors were arranged on the floor trying to breathe. No dialogue. Just breathing. The amazing thing is that the audience was rapt the entire time. ... There were a number of times where I started to feel claustrophobic. In addition to being an excellent playwright, Cassidy is a strong director, creating a taut, well-paced drama. Unfortunately, THE TEMPLE, or, LEBENSRAUM ends its nearly sold-out run tonight. I have no doubt it will make another appearance in the future." - Byrne Harrison, Stagebuzz
"A horrorshow of the claustrophobic lives of German submariners and the evil that consumes them ... [A] living, breathing, immersive spectacle. ... Make[s] the horror of the sea, of WWII, and of the Lovecraftian-influenced Gnostic psychodrama all too real. ... [Heinrich is] one of the most chilling displays of inhumanity that I’ve ever seen onstage. He is a true devil, in the most Christian sense of the word, all charm and bonhomie, doing nothing more than opening the door to horrors that the regular men of the ship seem all-to-easily able to commit." - Michael Niederman, New York Theater Review
"Successfully erasing 'the fourth wall' between the actors and the audience, Nat Cassidy, the author and director of THE TEMPLE, or, LEBENSRAUM turns the stage of The Brick, a small Williamsburg theater, into a World War II German submarine. While the characters dive into the depths, the viewers immerse themselves into the play, sharing the sailors’ nightmares and fears. One cannot help but shudder when the lights suddenly go off, and the sounds of torpedoes pierce the air. All of these features create the impression that there is no escape from the experience. Even the funny intermission announcement that everyone is expected back on board in 10 minutes is only a short gulp of fresh ocean air before the boat submerges again. ... The sailors’ tired and smutty faces stare right at the viewers, as though reproaching them for not helping to move the vessel forward. ... Tortured by both real and psychological dangers, the sailors nevertheless preserve their sense of humor ... reminding us that even in the worst of times there’s always something to smile about. ... Although “The Temple” has a specific political context, even those who do not know a lot about German history will enjoy the play. It is not only the story of Nazi Germany; it is also the story of soldiers, protecting their country and of individuals willing to survive in the face of grave danger. In addition, the setting and sounds draw us into the play, compelling us to relate to the sailors and make their thoughts and nightmares our own. Not every day can we find ourselves on a submarine, and neither can we expect such total immersion from every theater performance. This alone makes Cassidy’s show memorable, engaging and worth our time and attention." - Ekaterina Lalo, Reviewfix
"Does an effective job of imparting the mundane horrors of life on board a submarine. ... Lovecraft fans will be happy to see one of his lesser stories brought to life, but the weird science themes are just there for flavor. The true goal of the show is to explore the lives of men who fought for the wrong side of a war. THE TEMPLE OR LEBENSRAUM does this admirably."
- Charles Battersby, Theater for Nerds
Photographs by Michael Markham
