[page 38]

Reverend Dale Rott, MFA

Intersections Between Theatre and the Church in the United States: 1930-1990

INTRODUCTION

The contents of this paper will provide a background to the era during 1930-1990, in which Dr. Wayne Rood was a major contributor to the development of the intersection of Religion and Theatre in the United States.

The task in this paper is to scale the mountain peaks and survey other peaks.  Thus this paper contains only a glimpse of some of the major peaks in the Religion and Theatre movement from a broad perspective.  It would take numerous volumes to write a comprehensive history of the relationship between the church and theatre from 1930 to 1990.   These sixty years are impossible to examine under a microscope at this writing, so in this paper only major events which occurred during the theatre life of Dr. Wayne Rood will be noted.  It is noted further that the primary interest of this paper is on the intersections between the Christian Church at large and the Theatre.  The focus, therefore, is on the breadth and variety of intersections involving the (Christian) "Religion and Theatre" movement during the sixty year period of Wayne’s involvement.           

The writer has selected several personalities, areas, topics, and activities upon which to report.  These indicate the depth and breath of the intersections between Religion and Theatre in academic institutions, the professional theatre and the Christian church.  Some of the major [page 39] personalities involved in these intersections are noted first.  It is from the shoulders of these metaphoric mountain peaks that we can survey the rest of the territories laid out before us.  The terrain selected for viewing then follow and include: Articles, Books, Broadway Productions, Churches, Colleges, Community Theatres, Denominations, Dissertations, MA Theses, Pageants, Passion Plays, Play Publishers, Plays, Seminaries, Touring, and Workshops.  Dr. Wayne Rood made numerous contributions in several of these areas.

PERSONALITIES OF THIS ERA

Dr. Wayne Ray Rood represents the era.  He was a pioneer in the relationship between religion and theatre when numerous changes were occurring.  He was one of the initiators.  Wayne was one of the select group of men and women who developed a conviction that the quality of the relationship between Theatre and Religion must be enhanced.  These people followed through with their conviction theoretically and practically, and thus laid a foundation for the current and future development in the intersections between religion and theatre.  Dr. Rood and others in this era mentored "disciples" who now solidify many of the experiments and dreams started by Professor Rood and his colleagues.

In the 1930’s and 1940’s Dr. Fred Eastman, Professor of Biography and Drama at the Chicago Theological Seminary, and a member of the Federated Theological Faculty, University of Chicago, was a forerunner in relating religion and the theatre, especially in the church.  Dr. Eastman authored several books (i.e. Christ in the Drama) which both revealed the relationship between the theatre and religion throughout history, and fostered production techniques in the church.  He also organized annual surveys about drama activities in the churches.  A student and later colleague of Dr. Eastman was Louis Wilson.  He was Professor Eastman’s research assistant and later became a Professor of Drama at the Covina Baptist Seminary in California.  Louis Wilson co-authored Drama In The Church with Dr. Eastman.           

[page 40] Professors Albert and Bertha Johnson, along with their college teaching and directing production schedules, organized the Drama Trio, which consisted of two males and one female.  Albert and Bertha wrote the scripts and then toured the productions to churches and organizations in the United States during the later 1950’s and into the 1960’s.           

Harold Ehrensperger’s religion and theatre career started as a missionary for the Methodist Church in India, and ended as Dean of the School of Fine and Applied Arts of Boston University.  Professor Ehrensperger took part in the National Council of Churches summer workshops, initiated the MFA in Religion and Theatre degree at Boston University, and was the author of several books. (1)            

Professor Robert Seaver, a Speech Communication Instructor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, received a grant from the Rockerfeller Foundation for a nine year religion and theatre program. This program included bringing E. Martin Browne and Henzie Rayburn from England.  He led the National Council of Churches Summer workshops for several years into the 1970’s.

Dr. Alfred Edyvean began his work at the School of Religion of Butler University, and later continued under the Christian Theological Seminary of Indianapolis.  Professor Edyvean was Chair of the Church Drama Interest Group of the American Educational Theatre Association, Inc..  He also developed a media and theatre program at the seminary, helped design a contemporary theatre facility at the seminary, and founded a repertory community theatre organization  consisting of both seminary and community people. 

[page 41] James Carlson commenced his religion and theatre activities at Hamline University  in St. Paul, Minnesota and later continued at Eckard College in Florida.  During this tenure Professor Carlson was active in producing religious plays, lecturing at workshops, and co-edited the magazine Religious Theatre.

Other notable persons during the Rood era include James Warren at Scarritt College, Mildred Hahn Enterline at Elizabethtown College, William Brasner at Denison, Paul Baker at Baylor (and later Trinity University), and Orlin Corey at Georgetown College.

Leaders of drama in churches during the Rood era include Hulda Niebuhr at Riverside Church in New York City, Amy Goodhue Loomis at Fountain Street Baptist Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Mrs. Best at First Congregational Church in Evanston, Illinois, and Carolyn Joyce at Hennepin Methodist in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS AND MASTERS’ DEGREE THESES

The following representative examples were written between 1930 and 1990.   They are only the proverbial tip of the iceberg of all the Religion and Theatre dissertations and theses written during this era.  These writings, however, suggest how significant the Religion and Theatre scholarly analysis was to both theatre and religion.

Dissertations and theses involving the intersecting of Religion and Theatre were accepted as legitimate and necessary scholarly research in any university in the United States.  For example, Religion and Theatre dissertations & theses were accepted at the Yale School of Drama, the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, New York, Denver University, the School of Education at New York University, and the University of Oregon. [page 42] They also were accepted at other secular and public research institutions throughout the United States.

The contents and topics of the dissertations and theses reflect the broad scope of the relationships between theatre and religion.  They provide essential insights to the historical, philosophical, technical, and aesthetic areas of theatre throughout the world, and cover every historical period.  The explorations of the dissertations and theses provide numerous dimensions to the theological, ethical, moral, and social fabric of human kind.  They come from a variety of academic disciplines, proving the breadth and depth of the Religion and Theatre field as a universal subject matter (i.e. psychology,  theatre, music, literature, philosophy, and theology).

A significant number of the dissertations and theses written examined every aspect of the medieval church drama.  Many of these especially concentrated on the medieval period in England.  This interest parallels the number of journal articles and books published on the medieval church theatre.  Examples include the following:

• Sister Mary Faith McKean, R.S.M. "The Interplay of Realistic and Flamboyant Art Elements in the French Mysteries."(2)
• Albert Byron Weiner, "Acting on the Medieval Religious Stage."(3)
• Margaret Mary McShane, "The Music of the Medieval Liturgical Drama."(4)
• Marie Dolores Moore, "The Visitatio Sepulchri of the Medieval Church: a Historical, Geographical and Liturgical Survey." (5)

Some dissertations were general surveys, such as Charles Bernard Gilford’s "A Critical Survey of the Morality Play."(6)           

[page 43] Beyond a significant interest in the medieval period researchers pursued denominational intersections with drama.  In the dissertations and theses during this sixty year era every major denomination in the United States was researched.  The researchers sought to discover who, what, when, where, why, and how drama was involved in the churches of his or her denomination.  All of them indicated the opposition years as well as the later years of acceptance of drama in each of her or his denomination.  Some dissertations dealt with dramatic forms being used in Worship and Christian Education.  Examples include:

• Sister Jean, T. C. G.  "The Function of Religious Drama and Dance in the Schools of the Episcopal Church."(7)
• Janet Louise Norberg, "From Opposition to Appropriation: The Resolution of Southern Baptist Conflict with Dramatic Forms, 1802-1962."(8)
• William Hayden Marsh, "The Attitude of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Toward the Theatre in America, 1891-1967."(9)

Other dissertations and theses reviewed the national church and theatre organizations, such as Sister Mary Michael Keefe’s "The National Catholic Theatre Conference: Its Aims and its Achievements."(10)

The more theoretical or philosophical dissertations discussed ethics, morality or theology, examples of which include:

• Dorothy Lucille Wright’s "The Undermining of the Christian Ethic by Certain Trends in Contemporary French Theatre."(11)
• [page 44] Vernon A. Clestrud’s "An Analysis of the Moral Attitudes Toward the Theater of the Pacific Slope States from 1849 to 1899."(12)
• W. Butler’s "Ignatius’ The Moral Problems of the Theatre."(13)

Various aspects of the drama programs in church related colleges were also examined.  Judith Ann Lewis’ "The Selection Process of Dramatic Literature for Production at Southern Baptist Colleges and Universities"(14) and Morris R. Pike’s "The Attitudes of the Significant Constituencies of the Christian College Consortium Toward Certain Aspects of Theatre"(15)  exemplify this focus.

Christian Education in the Church was another topic for dissertations. This focus is illustrated by Alan Deem Einsel’s "Developing Faith Communication Skills of Adults Through Drama"(16) and Thomas J. Sanders’ "The Use of Drama in Teaching Church History in the Local Congregation."(17)

A variety of historical topics also received analysis:

• John Allen Elliott’s "The Mask in Etruscan Religion, Ritual and Theater."(18)
• Lawrence Blair’s "Dramatic Activity of the Church: as Seen in English Churchwardens' Accounts and other Archival  Sources of the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Sixteenth Centuries."(19)
• Sister Rose Anthony’s The Jeremy Collier Stage Controversy, 1698-1726.(20)

[page 45] Theological issues were discussed in Verne Meyer’s "The Relationship Between Prominent Themes in John Calvin's Theology and Common Arguments in the "Puritan" Critique of English Theatre from 1577 to 1633."(21)

Themes containing an international flavor were examined in dissertations, such as Mary Josephine Gentes’ "Hinduism through Village Dance Drama: Narrative Image and Ritual Process in South India's Terukkuttu  and Yaksagana Ritual Theaters"(22) and Myrna Casas’ "Theatrical Production in Puerto Rico from 1700-1824:  The Role of the Government and of the Roman Catholic Church."(23) An analysis of Broadway plays was undertaken by Oliver F. Hubbard, Jr. in his "A Critical Analysis of Selected American Dramas (1950-1975)," as with Vincent. B. Holubowicz in his "A Spirituality of Twentieth Century American Drama."(24)

Censorship has been, and presumably will continue be, a topic for research.  Examples of this focus include: Russell Earl Green’s "Legal and Moral Restrictions on the Colonial American Theatre"(25) and William M. Gering’s "Mennonite Attitudes Toward Theatrical Enterprises."(26)

Dr. Rood fostered and guided many scholars in their dissertations and theses over his years at Pacific School of Religion and the Graduate Theological Union.  Through Dr. Rood’s guidance, and the PSR/GTU "Theology and The Arts" Track (Area VII), both traditional and non-traditional dissertation explorations were encouraged.

[page 46] Representative of the traditional dissertations and theses from the PSR/GTU consortium is an analysis of the playwright Eugene O’Neill by John Gardner in "Eugene O'Neill's Quest for the Tragic Essence: a Christian Response."(27)

Examples of the more non-traditional approach to dissertations and theses include:

• Lauren Friesen’s research coupled with writing the play "The Eagle and the Dove: a Three-act Drama on Life in the Johannine Community."(28)
• Robert Bela Wilhelm’s research, coupled with his recording of stories in storytelling interpretation in "Storytelling as a Religious Art Form for Contemporary Christianity."(29)
• Ellwood E. Kieser’s five sound track reels of a TV series entitled  "Cinema as Religious Experience: Five Examples From the Insight Film."(30)
• George A. Scranton’s chiasticly structured combination of a full-length dramatic comedy (Ring-A-Ring of Roses) included as the centerpiece of his more theoretical and research-oriented dissertation "Dramatic Comedy and Theology: an Interactive Exploration."(31) [This is an editorial addition which falls outside of the given time frame of this study, but was the final dissertation Dr. Rood shepherded through the doctoral process at PSR/GTU.]

RELIGION AND THEATRE ARTICLES APPEARING IN MAGAZINES AND JOURNALS

The importance of the interactions between Religion and Theatre is represented by the sheer volume of the more than 3000 articles which were perused for this paper.  Some articles were accessed through the computer and others were taken off the library reading stacks.  The [page 47] titles, content and abstracts of the articles were reviewed in order to make representative selections for inclusion in this study.  These articles indicate the wide scope in content, the significant variety of people involved, and the diverse events which shaped the intersection of religion and theatre during the era between 1930 and 1990.

During this era denominational and interdenominational magazines, scholarly journals, and popular national magazines all reported on the inter-relationships between religion and theatre.

Interdenominational magazines such as Christian Century and Christianity Today reported on secular and religious plays being produced in churches, community theatres, and on Broadway.  These magazines also published articles on how to produce plays in the church, and on the values of employing the dramatic form.

Denominational magazines mainly provided simple instructions on the various aspects of producing a play, pageant, or skit in the church for worship services, church school presentations, or for use in youth group settings.  Most of these articles were written by lay-people involved in doing church plays.

Scholarly journal articles reflected the continuing research and interest in the intersections between religion and theatre throughout the world. Scholarly journal articles analyzed the movement’s theory, theology, and philosophy.  The diversity of articles in print and the varied journals they represent indicate there was and is a critical and analytical interest in the religion and theatre intersection.  To read through the numerous journals one becomes aware of the broad perspective of the religion and theatre field.  The journals in which articles were published represent a variety of disciplines in the academic and non-academic professions. [page 48] Articles germane to religion and theatre were found in such journals as The Journal of Faith and Thought, The Renaissance Journal and the Southwestern Journal of Theology.

National, regional and local popular magazines reported on a variety of religion and theatre topics.  It is significant to note the variety and diversity of articles in national popular magazines.  These articles reflect the economic benefits to a community and the positive social values involved, which religion and theatre intersections bring to society.  The following general classifications are representative of the broad spectrum of topics contained in both the denominational and popular magazines, as well as the scholarly journals.

The evangelical and fundamentalistic denominations of Christianity continued to have problems with the theatre similar to those experienced in the colonial puritan era.  The rabid hate toward theatre which held sway in the seventeen, eighteen and early nineteen hundreds was limited to the arch fundamentalist.  Because the play form was used in children's pageants and youth performances the 1930’s, 1940’s, and 1950’s there was a transition from denunciation to acceptance, even in these denominations.  The anti-theatre articles by ministers almost disappeared by 1950 but were replaced with questions about the values of drama.  Ministers also moved to encouraging the use of the play form with inculcating biblically based content and the dogma of the church.  Article examples include both John P. Newport’s "Questions Ministers Ask About Contemporary Literature and Drama"(32) and Richard J. Sherry’s "Placing Theatre in the Spotlight: Some Evangelical Distrust of Theatre Stems from Lack of Understanding."(33)

The Christian Religious Education movement was very strong in this era and adult, youth and children’s plays were advocated. As an example of this push for drama in church education Motive magazine devoted an entire issue to drama and education.  A. Argyle Knight [page 49] advocated choral speaking, plays, monologues, and other drama forms in church education.  James Warren advocated drama in the small church, suggested both the plays and how to perform them in church spaces.  Alfred Edyvean provided a theoretical basis for drama in the church.  Winifred Ward explained the value for children in learning through drama.

Because of Wayne Rood’s interest in religious education he wrote articles promoting drama in religious settings, and provided a review of appropriate plays, with a bibliography, in "Religious Dramas."(34)           

How to produce drama in the church was elucidated in numerous denominational magazines throughout the era.  The one column, one page to three page article, with photos and suggestions, from a layperson who had an interest in drama was an often repeated entry.  Many of these articles’ attention factor was that drama had returned to the church.  Historians know that drama consistently has been in the church.  Perhaps, for greater accuracy, the writers should have stated that drama had returned to "their" church (or in many cases that drama in a formal sense has finally come to "their" church).  The writers advocated the use of drama as a means to encourage people to be active in the church ministry and develop people relationships. Representative articles include Everett Robertson suggesting how to produce a church play effectively and efficiently(35), and Rosemary Rausch Sawyer chronicling how the drama program originated at Willow Creek Church in the Chicago area(36). This article also represents the change from the 1930’s one act biblical drama to the 5 minute skit relating to a sermon topic in a worship service.

The period of the medieval church drama has been predominant in the thinking about church drama during this era.  This predominance is exemplified by having more scholarly [page 50] articles written on medieval church drama than any other topic.  Examples include:

1. "Everyman: A Dramatization of Death" by Allen D. Goldhamer. (37)
2. "Mak and Archie Armstrang" by T. M. Parrot. (38)
3. "Jesuit Education and the Jesuit Theatre" by Victor Yanitelli. (39)

Because drama arose from the liturgy of the worship service it was natural that liturgical church denominations would continue the discussion of the relationship between liturgy and drama.  This observation is illustrated by  "A Story of Drama and Liturgy" by Colin Hodgetts.(40) Ritual is related to liturgy and theatre, so articles on ritual and theatre continued in this era, as suggested by "Ritual and Theatre: an overview" by Ronald J. Lee. (41)  Lee stated theatre cannot be studied adequately without studying the roots of theatre in religion and ritual, and notes that theatre reinforces and supports the community’s spiritual life.

Because production is at the core of the interactive process between theatre and religion, articles on acting, directing, promoting, analyzing, and reviewing plays received significant coverage in magazines throughout the era. Scholarly Journals continued to analyze medieval scripts, as had been done in past eras. Louis Roney’s "The Wakefield First and Second Shepherds Plays as Complements in Psychology and Parody"(42) is a typical article representing the specific details such writers explored.  Contemporary scripts were promoted constantly as indicated by Eve McFall’s "What Child Is This, a Three Part Play for Children."(43)  Since skits were relating to sermons, the questions of the relationship between the stage and the sermon [page 51] were analyzed in a representative article entitled "Pulpit and Stage" by John Franklin McCleary.(44)

The rise of the musical in its various forms was a phenomenon during this era. The professional stage introduced Jesus Christ Superstar, and other religiously-oriented musicals.  The non-professional church revue and cantata formats followed that lead, as seen in "Musical theatre: A Prelude to the Gospel" by Jim N. Simmonds.(45)  In his article Simmonds stated that musicals appeal to a broad audience.  He also noted the musical’s ability to ask questions about the meaning of life.  Such questions are fundamentally religious in nature.  Numerous "musical dramas" were composed in this era, and they were all reviewed in the journals, as per Salvation, composed by Louis Chapin.(46)

Broadway plays were reviewed in the journals.  The reviewers attempted to discover the playwrights’ world views, the implied Divine/Human relationship, and what the playwright envisioned as the ethical moral condition of the human being.  It seemed as if the article writers with religious persuasions took Shakespeare's observation that "plays hold a mirror up to life" [nature] seriously.  Therefore they constantly and consistently reviewed plays to discover what the playwrights had seen in life [nature].  E. Martin Browne reviewed the plays of Priestly, Sartre, Anouilh, O’Neil, Miller, Williams and McLeish and found a very pessimistic world.(47) George Ralph reviewed Tennessee Williams’ plays on Broadway and concluded that, according to Williams, humans find salvation in sex, and are searching for an authentic self.(48)  During this era magazines and journals indicated religious drama on a global basis.  Numerous articles were published which reflected greater diversity in religious drama outside the United States. [page 52] Representative articles include:

1. "The Secret Rapture as Christian Allegory" by Liorah Anne Golomb(49);

2. "Asian Drama," by Gunnar Myrdal(50);

3. "Moses' Throne Vision in Ezekiel the Dramatist" by  Pieter W. van der Horst(51);

4. The play The Ass, by Takado Kaname.(52)

Archeological discoveries entered theatre and religion via "Jesus and the Theatre" by Richard Bates.(53)  Reconstruction of the theatre at Sepphoris, Israel, helped explain Jesus' reference to "hypocrites" as the Greek word denoting stage actor.

Theological and philosophical issues inherent in the intersection of religion and theatre continued to be debated in this era.  Lauren Friesen examined how theatre claims to express the nature or image of humanity and allows for transcendent implications; religion, on the other hand, seeks to address the nature or image of the divine reality, and the means by which humans experience it.(54) Another example of such interaction is "Catholic and Protestant widows in The Duchess of Malfi" by Margaret Lael Mikesell (55).           

The above is a mere fraction of the total number of articles published, and the diverse content of those articles, during the Rood era.  It does, however, give the reader a peep-hole insight into the volumes of material published in journals and magazines involving the intersections between theatre and religion during this critical era.