New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza at Talmud Torah Congregation—Amsterdam, July 27, 1656

Description
The rationalist philosopher Baruch de Spinoza—played with gentle conviction by the gifted Jeremy Strong—faces excommunication from the Jewish community of 1656 Amsterdam in David Ives’s theological courtroom drama. Ives distills Spinoza’s views with cogency and sympathy; less felicitous are the mechanistic contrivances of the plot, which is burdened with many unpersuasive changes of heart, and the general air of anachronism. As directed by Walter Bobbie, some of the performances drift into borscht belt territory; the historical import of Spinoza’s thought might emerge with greater power if his opponents were more than shtick figures.—AF