Although Cardinal Bernard F. Law is a well-known and controversial contemporary cleric, Tony Award-winning actor John Cullum tackles him in the same way he would any other character in a work of dramatic fiction. The play at issue, "Sin (A Cardinal Deposed)," is a kind of documentary theatre that examines Cardinal Law's culpability in the sexual abuse scandal surrounding priests in the Boston archdiocese, weaving Law's actual testimony, given in the course of a deposition, with recollections from survivors and their families. Cullum draws a complicated figure, growing increasingly inarticulate and ultimately silent as he unravels in the face of the charges and his own sense of responsibility and underlying guilt. "Sin" bowed Off-Broadway at the Clurman Theatre on Tues., Oct. 26.
"I approach Cardinal Law as if it were me in his situation," notes Cullum during a phone interview. "I'm not impersonating him. I choose to play him as a man who, at the end, knows he did something wrong, because that's more interesting and gratifying for an audience." Cullum adds, "The real Cardinal Law is in fact now working at the Vatican, drinking the best wine and, for all I know, playing with little boys."
That said, Cullum stresses that he was determined "not to be engaged in church bashing. That's not what this play is about. It's about the corruption of power. It could be any institution, but in this case it's the church, where powerful figures were so committed to protecting the church, they lost sight of what the church is all about, which is protecting the individual.
"When Cardinal Law was a parish priest in Mississippi, he had a terrific reputation and was very much identified with helping the individual," continues Cullum, a gregarious Knoxville, Tenn., native who still speaks with a Southern accent, although on stage it disappears.
"But in the role of cardinal, he became shackled with running the church and began delegating responsibility. He was a righteous person who made adjustments for what he viewed as the greater good. And, in the process, he compromised his integrity."
The basic questions about Cardinal Law and, more precisely, Cullum's interpretation of him are these: Did Cardinal Law know young boys were being sexually abused by Boston priests or didn't he? And if he knew, did he view these transgressions as trivial, or was he consciously involved in a major cover-up?
Cullum suggests that at various points—at least in his performance—each of these elements is at play. And almost to the very end, "this was a man who was so used to covering up, he no longer knew he was covering up. Still, his position was indefensible when the facts came out. But my job as an actor is not to conclude what is right or wrong about Cardinal Law, but to try to understand what he did and why."
Cullum grew up in a Baptist family, and while he is no longer a practicing Baptist, he says that being a member of his family most prepared him for this role: "My brother is a Baptist minister, and I also draw a lot on my dad, who was very prejudiced but a very good man all the same. He brings to mind something I've been thinking about recently: Are people who are right intellectually morally superior to those who are wrong intellectually but who do good works?"
Cullum is asserting that many Evangelicals who are wrong-headed nonetheless do charitable deeds, while many liberals do not. He emphasizes that he considers himself a liberal and finds himself in a paradoxical bind, especially in the wake of the presidential election.
"My wife [writer Emily Frankel] will not allow the television to be on if President Bush is speaking," he offers.
Politics aside, Cullum boasts an impressive theatrical resume that spans almost 45 years. He received Tony nominations for "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" and, most recently, "Urinetown," and he won the award twice for his performances in "Shenandoah" and "On the Twentieth Century." Other Broadway credits include "Camelot," "1776," "Old Money," and the most recent revival of "Show Boat," among many more. His TV roles encompass regular stints on "Northern Exposure" and "ER" and guest spots on "Law & Order" and "Touched by an Angel." In addition, Cullum has appeared in several films.
Missing Out on a Career in Real Estate
The son of a banker who later sold real estate, Cullum was expected to follow in his father's footsteps and in fact did just that before realizing it was not for him. At the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Cullum majored in speech, minored in English, and launched his acting career in various college productions. This was many years before the Clarence Brown Theatre was in residence at the school.
"I always wanted to act, but never thought of it as something serious to do," Cullum recalls. "After serving in the Korean War, I actually started working towards a master's degree in finance."
Cullum dropped out of the program, came to New York City, and gave himself a two-year time frame to see if he had a shot at acting (translation: if he could make a living at it); within short order, he was working steadily. "I did it for love and that has never changed," he says. "I'd go for those projects that were most enjoyable. I could make thousands of dollars in Broadway musicals, but among the best experiences I had was doing 'Hamlet' in Milwaukee and a version of 'Cyrano' that my wife wrote for me on a bus-and-truck tour. Perhaps if I had been more aggressive, I might have been further ahead."
Cullum acknowledges that it's much harder today for the new actor and he's not entirely sure he would be acting now if he were starting out. His son, J.D. Cullum, is an actor and, according to Cullum, "He's got much more talent than I do. But he's not having as much fun as I did. He wants to be in movies. He wants fame and fortune and agonizes over it. No, I'm not pleased he's an actor."
As for his own future, Cullum no longer worries about his next role, or when or what it will be. Given his track record, he is pretty confident that one will come along. At the moment, however, he is thinking about his role in "Sin" and some of his ongoing challenges, not least the play's documentarylike language and rhythms.
"Some of it is very awkward," he says. "It was difficult to memorize and difficult to speak, especially as the play progresses and Cardinal Law becomes almost inarticulate. I try to be as clear as possible, and when I'm not totally sure what he's saying, I let playwright Michael Murphy's words do it for me."
Cullum is convinced that "Sin" has a strong impact on its audiences, who come from many walks of life. "They all seem to be deeply affected by it, not only the victims of abuse, although it speaks to them particularly," Cullum remarks. "Quite a few have stopped me after the show to tell me about their experiences. But there are many others in the audience who are non-Catholics and fascinated by it. That's what I act for: to make people respond to the human condition. I'm far more interested in the heart than the hardware."
