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<p class="ydp4fa226cbMsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center"><b>A Helluva Dilemma</b></p>
<p class="ydp4fa226cbMsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center">By Tom Wachunas<b> </b>
</p><p class="ydp4fa226cbMsoNormal"><b><span> </span>“I don't like to commit myself about heaven
and hell - you see, I have friends in both places.”</b><span> </span>- Mark Twain</p>
<p class="ydp4fa226cbMsoNormal"><b><span> </span>“Hell is empty and all the devils are here…”</b>
- William Shakespeare </p>
<p class="ydp4fa226cbMsoNormal"><b><span> </span>“The safest road to hell is the gradual one
- the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without
milestones, without signposts.”<span> </span></b>- C.
S. Lewis </p>
<p class="ydp4fa226cbMsoNormal"><b><span> </span>“For Christians, this present life is the
closest they will come to Hell. For unbelievers, it is the closest they will
come to Heaven.”―</b> Randy Alcorn</p>
<p class="ydp4fa226cbMsoNormal"><span> </span>Whether you call it
anecdotal or apocryphal in nature, there’s enough evidence for the veracity of
a journalist’s 1940s encounter with comic and movie actor W.C Fields – a man certainly
not known to be religious, but rather famous for his lascivious pursuit of
mistresses and booze. Fields was seen anxiously perusing a Bible in the waning
days of his life. When asked why, Fields replied simply that he was “looking
for loopholes.” For many folks, the thought of an eternity spent burning in Hell
is no laughing matter. So maybe Fields’ guilt-riddled conscience was prompting
him to seek a back door entry to Heaven, or an emergency fire exit, so to
speak.</p>
<p class="ydp4fa226cbMsoNormal"><span> </span><span> </span>Christian doctrine tells us that Hell is the
ultimate, very real and eternal destination for the unsaved. God’s fiery
judgement on unrepentant sinners. <span> </span>Lucas
Hnath’s play, <i>The Christians, </i>is a
cogent<i> </i>and captivating look at what
happens in a modern-day evangelical megachurch when that belief is seriously
challenged. Here then is the story of a painful schism caused by a pastor’s
venturing to the outer edges of ecclesiastical possibility. He proposes that Hell,
as the Church had always understood it to be, does not in fact exist. </p>
<p class="ydp4fa226cbMsoNormal"><span> </span><span> </span>For this, the final installment of the summer
series by Seat of the Pants Productions, Director Craig Joseph went to
considerable lengths in finding an actual church that would agree to stage the
play – specifically, the spacious fellowship hall in downtown Canton’s Christ
Presbyterian Church. It was a brilliant decision, right down to treating the
audience as congregants gathered for a worship service, complete with live band
(Steve Miller on piano, Scott Thomas on drums, and vocals by Lisa Kaye Pyles)
playing contemporary praise tunes, a projection screen posting church
announcements and song lyrics, and prayer time. And of course, there’s a
sermon, but one like no other ever delivered to this faithful congregation. </p>
<p class="ydp4fa226cbMsoNormal"><span> </span><span> </span>Scott Stachiw delivers a genuinely charismatic
portrait of Pastor Paul. But his gently measured, soothing manner belies the
disturbing nature of the radical new teaching he’s laying out for his ministry.
He explains how his rationale was born while sitting on the toilet and having a
conversation with God. It’s an unorthodox burning bush encounter if ever there
was one. As the Pastor describes his divine revelation, Andy Simmons, playing
the fervent young Associate Pastor Joshua, squirms quietly in his chair as he’s
clearly having a tough time digesting the implications. At one point he
passionately presents his objections, quoting supportive Scripture, only to be
met by the Pastor’s equally passionate counter-arguments. </p>
<p class="ydp4fa226cbMsoNormal"><span> </span><span> </span>And so begins the fallout, slowly at first,
but with ever-increasing momentum as members of the congregation becomes
irrevocably divided, taking their financial support with them – a pragmatic
concern sensitively voiced by Tom Stephan playing one of the church Elders. </p>
<p class="ydp4fa226cbMsoNormal"><span> </span>Meanwhile, Julie
Connair, playing a concerned congregant, is remarkably poignant as she pleads for
a deeper understanding of her Pastor’s intentions, meanings, and motivations.
She finds neither clarity nor lasting comfort in his answers to her urgent
questions. Similarly moving in emotional resonance is Meg Hopp as the Pastor’s
wife, feeling blindsided by her husband’s decisions, which he seems
increasingly unable to defend with any certainty. Questioning the very
integrity of their marital relationship, she sadly observes how difficult it is
to discern between God’s will and our own wishful thinking.</p>
<p class="ydp4fa226cbMsoNormal"><span> </span>An especially
fascinating narrative device here is the ever-present hand-held microphone,
used by not only the Pastor as he addresses his flock at the beginning of the
play, but by all of the characters as they speak their lines throughout most of
the proceedings. It’s as if the sermon itself is more than just the Pastor’s
prepared script, but in fact an amplified continuation of a living sermon – the
ongoing thoughts and responses of the entire congregation of...us. </p>
<p class="ydp4fa226cbMsoNormal"><span> </span>Navigating through
perceived loopholes of Biblical interpretation can become a precarious plunge
down the proverbial rabbit hole. That said, Lucas Hnath’s writing doesn’t succumb
to preachy histrionics, melodramatic propaganda, or obtuse Christian
apologetics. What we get instead is the uncanny sensation that these actors
aren’t really acting so much as offering an unabashedly honest look at the complex
reality of ideological impasses. Their sincerity is so palpable and disarming
that we become not merely passive witnesses to a church’s plight, but engaged,
sympathetic neighbors sharing the innermost spiritual struggles of a once
harmonious community. Church as microcosm of our turbulent times?</p>
<p class="ydp4fa226cbMsoNormal"><span> </span>For all of the
interpersonal <i>Stürm und Drang</i> that
transpires during <i>The Christians</i>, the
characters never stoop to the murderous rancor so prevalent in today’s societal
conflicts. What still reigns clearly enough in this story is a spirit that’s in
woefully short supply amidst those conflicts, and that would be…love.<span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></p>
<p class="ydp4fa226cbMsoNormal"><span> </span><i>The Christians, </i>a Seat of the Pants
Production, directed by Craig Joseph, at Christ Presbyterian Church, 530
Tuscarawas Street W., in downtown Canton, Ohio / Performances at 8 p.m. on Aug.
25 & 26, 2 p.m. on Aug. 27 / Tickets $20 at</p>
<p class="ydp4fa226cbMsoNormal"><span> </span><a href="http://www.christianscanton.evenbrite.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.christianscanton.evenbrite.com</a>
</p>
<p class="ydp4fa226cbMsoNormal"><span> </span>For other
commentaries by Tom Wachunas on the performing and visual arts in the greater
Canton area, please visit his blog, ARTWACH, at<span>
</span><a href="http://www.artwach.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.artwach.blogspot.com</a><span> </span><span> </span></p>
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