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BOOKS

The titles and contents of the books published during this period are essentially the same as the articles, dissertations and theses written during the era.

Every denominational publication press and independent church book press printed their version of "How to do Drama in the Church." Esther W. Bates’ The Church Play and Its Production in 1938 included history, directing and technical helps for a church producer.   The Southern Baptist’s Floy Barnard based her 1950 Drama In The Churches book on experiences and theory presented in her Seminary course.  Bethany Press published J. Edward Moseley’s Using Drama In The Church in 1962.  It started with theory on the why and how of drama in the church and continued through directing, acting, and worship. The Lutherans, through Beverly Johnson’s book Planning and Staging Dramatic Productions in 1983, provided elementary acting, directing and technical ideas for church productions.  Getting Started in Drama Ministry, by Janet Litherland in 1988 was subtitled, "A Complete Guide to Christian Drama" and contained chapters ranging from directing to ‘dramatic dining.’  The word ‘ministry’ in the book’s title reflected the new term for drama in the church.

Although the medieval period reigned supreme in the number of books published, general history of the religion & theatre relations also rolled off the presses.  Examples include, James C. Bryant’s Tudor Drama and Religious Controversy and Christian Theatre by Robert Speaight.  Bryant’s book represents books on specific eras in history whereas Spreaight’s book represents books which provide a historical review from the beginnings of theatre through 1950.

The medieval church drama period received considerable space on book pages similar to the number of medieval era articles and dissertations.  Because numerous books had been printed on the medieval era prior to 1930, most books narrowed their content to a specific detail [page 54] in the production or theory of medieval church drama.   Representative books include, The Characterization of Pilate in the Townley Plays by Arnold Williams, Drama Imagery in English Medieval Churches (1963) by M.D. Anderson, and The Banns of the Chester Plays (1940) by F. M. Salter.

Questions about the value of the theatrical form expressing theological issues, and the morals of the actors lives seems to be part of the eternal questioning by some moralists and religious people in numerous publications.  The effects  of drama on social and religious conduct was explored in both The Theatre and its Critics in Seventeenth-Century France (1980) by Henry Phillips, and Creed and Drama by W. Moelwyn Merchant.(56)

Writers continually checked the Broadway plays and the "contemporary" playwrights so they could state how the condition of the human being was reflected in the plays on Broadway and by contemporary playwrights. Writers always applied a Christian, denominational, or religious standard to the plays in order to discover if, and how, the human condition was portrayed measured according to their standard.  The Splintered Stage: The Decline of The American Theater (1965) by R. H. Gardner states “today’s misfit drama substitutes the sick for the noble, the grotesque for the beautiful, the obscure for the significant, the sensational for the sublime."  Contemporary Theatre and the Christian Faith (57) by Kay M. Baxter claims that playwrights show the heart of a desperate human illness, but cannot promise hope or a new life.

During the 1600’s to the 1800’s the anti-theatre arguments came from numerous publishing houses, and this continued into the 1920 and 1930’s.  But by the 1980’s and 1990’s the anti-theatre books were no longer published because the question seemed moot. Although William Edward Biederwolf’s book The Christian and amusements: is dancing sinful? is card-playing wrong? is theater-going harmful? was first published in 1909 it was reprinted several times until [page 55] 1956.  Reprinting the same arguments indicated there were a few diehards, but it also indicated the lack of relevant arguments against the targeted activities.  William R. McGrath’s anti-theatre book, Why Alert and Well-informed Christians Object to Radio, Television and the Theatre, first published in 1960 (but also republished as late as 1979) lumps several performance forms into one argument, and is an example of “guilt by association.”

Although magazines reviewed plays in almost every issue, it was the book authors who were able to review plays in depth.  They sought to discover ethical, moral or religious values.  They investigated what playwrights were stating about the human condition and looked for the spirituality inherent in the selected scripts.  Kathleen Mary Baxter’s Contemporary Theatre and the Christian Faith was first published in England in 1964, and then published the following year in United States.  The author analyzed the plays of such playwrights as Samuel Becket, Arthur Miller, and Henrick Ibsen.  This Dramatic World, authored by Dr. Alfred Edyvean in 1970 researched the plays of Eugene O’Neill, Samuel Becket, Bertolt Brecht and T. S. Eliot.

Dr. Wayne Rood began his academic career in religious education, and his three published books represent that discipline: The Art Of Teaching Christianity; Enabling The Loving Revolution (Nashville; Abingdon Press, 1968), Understanding Christian Education (1970), and On Nurturing Christians; Perhaps A Manifesto For Education (1972).

CHURCHES

During this period several articles, books, and people have made some statement to the effect that drama is returning to the church, and there is a renewed interest in drama in the church.  The people who pen these phrases, while stating a perceived reinvigoration of dramatic activity in the church, are less cognizant of the historical facts of the case than these observations [page 56] suggest.  Drama in one form or another, in one church or another, in one denomination or another has been in the church in America throughout the last 60 years.

As in Medieval church history many American churches for the past 60 years have at least presented a pageant, or play, at Christmas and Easter time.  The Rood era began with children and youth performing annually, but later this interest developed into a drama club or organization which also produced plays at other times of the year. The era saw a few full time church drama directors operating mainly in the religious education program of the church.  These programs may have disappeared, but the annual pageants continued.  At the end of this era the churches developed the skit as the theatrical form of choice.  It was mainly performed by young adults during the main worship service prior to the sermon.

In the 1930's, 1940's and 1950's the church plays were performed by children and youth.  Performing in a play was considered a special program and aimed to keep the youth actively doing something.  Perhaps unfortunately, the small rural and urban churches have gone down in history as being part of the “bathrobe” drama era, because “father's bathrobe” was worn by the child in the annual Christmas reenactment of the Nativity of Christ.  As educators we have responded negatively to this "bathrobe" era, and have used it as an example of amateur and unprofessional production and performance techniques.  Although apt in our response, this bathrobe period, at least in spirit, was a continuation of the medieval church drama.   As such it is a foundation for the current intersections of drama and the church.

In the 1930’s many city mainline churches built huge facilities which usually incorporated a proscenium arch stage at one end of the fellowship hall.  In this space children and young people presented plays.  The nineteen-thirties and forties saw such churches as the Fountain Street Baptist Church (American Baptist) in Grand Rapids, Michigan (Amy  G. Loomis, Director); the Riverside Church of New York City (Hulda Neibuhr, Director); and First Congregational of Evanston, Illinois (Mrs. Best, Director of Pilgrim's Players), presenting one act [page 57] biblical scripts reiterating Biblical stories.  Occasionally an everyday life drama dealing with missions or social issues was presented.  When the leaders of these programs died or retired the programs ceased to exist.

It was the impetus of the church drama leaders and church drama programs of the 1940's and 1950's which gave rise to the church related college initiating theatre courses and touring troupes. Students who had drama experience in church and high school then entered their church related college, and wanted to build on their earlier theatre experiences.

Experimentation was the vogue in the 1960’s, and a variety of performance forms such as cantatas, speech choruses, and multi-media, were employed in scripts of the period. 

Drama in the church today repeats the past medieval and bathrobe drama eras, along with performances which reflect the more sophisticated styles of the professional theatre and media.  Al Carmines experimented with a variety of dramatic forms at Judson Memorial Church in New York City in the 1960’s & 70’s. (58)   St. Clements and St. John The Divine are two of the numerous churches employing drama.  In the 1980’s a reader of the New York Times would have discovered on the list of theatre performances OFF OFF Broadway, at least one or two churches per week which had a drama group presenting a play, or a theatre organization which had rented the church space to produce a play.  Some of the plays contain religious content, but the non-religious play was performed as often, if not more often, than the religious script.

First Baptist Church Atlanta (Southern Baptist) has a full time Drama Director on the Church staff, and a fellowship hall where dinner theatre and rehearsals occur.  Church members volunteer to present comedies for dinner theatre as a family program.  A Passion play has been presented for 19 years in the Atlanta Civic Center, with eight performances given on two [page 58] weekends.  The plot is a reiteration of the last week of Christ’s life, and incorporates volunteers, amateurs, and live animals in the production.

North Heights Lutheran Church of St. Paul, Minnesota reminds one of the Medieval church in which the monks enacted an Easter trope and discovered both attendance and understanding rose greatly. In response they continued to add plays around Easter, and then Christmas, and then throughout the year.  North Heights Lutheran Church started with an annual Easter Pageant, then added a Christmas production, and then added youth musicals.  Church members produce the annual passion play for two weeks following Easter Sunday.  It attempts a Cecil B. Demille cast of thousands, with Jerusalem and the garden, and Golgotha spread all over the sanctuary platform.  Members of the church, including entire families volunteer their time, as the audience looks through the eyes of Peter who sings and tells the story of the Passion Week.

Hennepin Avenue Methodist Church has a history of theatre since the 1930's when the Bishop's daughter directed pageants and one act biblical dramas.  She also helped start community theatre in Minneapolis.  In the 1960’s the church kept up with the times in producing contemporary scripts and dramatic forms in the sanctuary, and in the fellowship hall which contained a proscenium arch stage.  Currently the church sponsors the reenactment of the Nativity, in pageant form, every Christmas.  The proceeds are then donated to food banks and homeless shelters.

Throughout the nation, urban church buildings have been sold to organizations as the church moved to the suburbs.  In other cases churches remain in the center city but augment their income by renting space.  St. Stephen’s Church in Philadelphia rents auditorium space to the Arden Theatre Company.  The church is an old downtown church with few members, but the members wish to continue worshipping in their tradition.  In order to solve the financial crunch the chapel auditorium is rented, and the theatre rents office space on the upper floors.  [page 59] No censorship is imposed, but the church congregation must approve physical plant changes.  Church drama groups doing secular plays included the Cathedral Players in Oakland, California who performed Lillian Hellman’s Little Foxes.

The current fad, which began in the 1960's in the Willow Creek Church in the Chicago area, follows the form of the Television skit.  This skit form of theatre is performed during the Sunday morning service prior to the sermon.  It deals with the sermon’s theme and is viewed as a warm-up to the sermon.  This "Mega-Church" or "Seeker-Church" has developed an organization which includes a hired director who performs every Sunday with scriptwriters and actors.  They use few set or hand properties.  Sermon themes are given to the Drama Director at least three months in advance, and the scripts are written in relation to the sermon theme.  The actors are both professionals and amateurs who are church members.  They consider this their only or main contribution to the church, rather than being involved in numerous organizations of the church.

The above are but a few of the thousands of churches through the years, and throughout the United States, who have touched on the intersections between religion and theatre.  The above churches are only representative of the variety and diversity in the relationships between religion and theatre within the formal Christian Church.

Dr. Rood’s theatre connection with the church has been in several ways, and with several forms.  The story sermon and the monologue sermon has been a forte of Dr. Rood, as he has written many scripts and led numerous workshops for church leaders in these forms.  He has directed plays in churches, and his leadership in the touring troupe BARDS brought him in contact with the churches of the San Francisco Bay area.  It is primarily through preparing students in theatre during their seminary years that Dr. Rood’s influence on drama directions in the church has been felt for these many years. [page 60]

SEMINARIES

Dr. Fred Eastman was the pioneer in religious drama at the Chicago Theological Seminary, which in the 1920’s became one of the first seminaries to offer a church and theatre program.  Courses in the field were offered and annual surveys were conducted which provided a yearly tabulation of productions and type of plays presented in churches in the United States.  Professor Eastman authored several books which provide insight into church and drama activities in that time period.  Louis Wilson was a student and research assistant of Dr. Eastman.  When the Chicago program ended with Dr. Eastman’s retirement, Louis Wilson became a Professor at Covina Baptist Seminary where he continued to write and produce plays.

Boston University School of Fine Arts and the School of Theology under the leadership of Harold Ehrensperger, offered an MFA in Religious Drama, from 1958 to 1964.  The degree program continued until the retirement of Dr. Ehrensperger.  Taught by Broadway Theatre professionals, courses in the program included lighting, set, and costume design, acting and directing.  Courses in the School of Theology included the relationship between the church and the theatre, and the History of Religion and Theatre.

The Southern Baptist Denominational Seminaries during the 1950’s and 1960’s offered numerous drama opportunities by way of courses and productions in their Christian Education curriculum programs. These seminaries included Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Forth Worth, Texas, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, and Louisville Theological Seminary.

During the 1960’s United Theological Seminary of New Brighton, Minnesota produced four plays during three summer seasons in the seminary indoor courtyard.  The cast and crew of 50 students and professors from the area volunteered their acting, directing and technical [page 61] assistance in producing such plays as Guenter Rutenborn’s The Sign of Jonah, Samuel Beckett’s Krapps Last Tape, Ronald Duncan’s The Death of Satan, and T. S. Eliot’s The Cocktail Party.  Discussions concerning the ethical and religious impacts of the plays’ contents were led by Dr. Eugene Jaberg following the performances.  Their mission was to produce plays of significance for the churches, provide opportunities for people to participate in such plays, and perform plays containing implicit or explicit theological issues.

Under the leadership of Dr. Alfred Edyvean at the Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, Indiana, a unique Theatre program was established during the 1960’s and 1970’s.  Starting in the areas of media and speech, Dr. Edyvean shifted to a Theatre emphasis, and established a community theatre based at the seminary with a fully equipped modern thrust theatre patterned after Greek Theatre architecture.  Plays of social and religious significance were performed by a repertory company consisting of seminary and college students, as well as people from the community.  This community theatre program continues to this day.

Professor Robert Seaver, the Speech Communication Professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, added an excellent theatre program to his program in speech communication.  Funded by the Rockefeller Foundation for nine years, Professor Seaver was able to have numerous British and American theatre personalities lecture and direct at Union over a nine year span.  E. Martin Browne, K. M. Baxter, and Henzie Rayburn were three of the internationally noted religious theatre figures who lectured, directed and acted at Union.

Dr. Rood’s major contribution to this era came through his work at The Pacific School of Religion which was also an associate seminary under the Graduate Theological Union umbrella.  This consortium of seminaries provided degrees in numerous disciplines, including theology and theatre.  Although other theatre courses were offered (i.e. “Good and Evil in the Plays of William Shakespeare” offered through Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary), Dr. Rood was the only professor actually directing plays.  In addition to his academic year’s activities, Dr. [page 62] Rood taught workshops in the summer, and was a speaker on demand at national and international religion and theatre organizations.  During several years he shared his teaching talents with other universities and seminaries in the United States, and overseas.

Although based in the Pacific School of Religion his influence was felt throughout the entire consortium of seminaries, because students from any seminary could enroll in Dr. Rood’s courses.  His "disciples" are found in professorships in seminaries, universities, and colleges, as TV directors, as playwrights, as ministers, as authors, as one-person touring show actors, and as leaders in religion and theatre’s regional, national and international organizations.

During his more than 50 year tenure he directed original scripts (I, Paul), theatre of the absurd (The Zoo Story), medieval plays (The Second Shepherd’s Play), children’s plays (You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown), poetic plays (For The Time Being), and comedies (Visit To A Small Planet), for a total of more than 40 productions.

COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

There are 2300 colleges and universities in the United States.  These colleges and universities originated from secular, governmental or religious reasons.  Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Baptist, Assembly of God, Latter Day Saints, Christian Reformed, and other denominations originated, developed and supported the education of people as a major goal of their mission. Most of these educational institutions became liberal arts colleges, with a liberal arts curriculum which included drama coursework or theatre production.  But drama or theatre wasn’t in the curriculum of the evangelical, conservative or fundamentalist colleges until the late 1950’s and early 1960’s.

As these colleges grew numerically, and special interests in specific disciplines originated, curriculums expanded.  Originally speech, drama, or theatre courses were included [page 63] in the Literature or Humanities Department.  These Departments then became Speech and Drama, or Dramatic Arts Departments.  Finally Drama or Theatre came into its own as a separate Department in many of these colleges.

The Instructors for the newly created Drama, or Theatre Departments often came from a Literature or Speech Department where they had developed an interest in drama or theatre.  Sometimes the instructors came from a MFA or Ph.D. program in secular universities.  Most of these fledgling Departments were staffed with one person until the 1970s when a second person was added as student interest grew in theatre.  Usually the second person was a technically oriented person competent in lighting, costume, and set design.

The courses for the Drama or Theatre Department were the normal courses of a typical Theatre Department, which included acting, directing, and History of Theatre.  Beyond these courses they also included a course in Drama and The Church, or a History of Religion and Theatre course.

Touring to churches with a Biblical or religious play by 6 to 10 students became an annual event, usually at the Easter or spring break.  The denominational churches supported these ventures, and it aided in drama or “theatre” being accepted by the churches as a legitimate college activity.  This separation of subject matter into separate Departments continued until the late 1980’s and early 1990’s when financial conditions and lowered enrollments reduced or realigned Drama or Theatre into alignments such as Departments of Communication Arts and Sciences.

Performance spaces in the developing years were usually a music recital hall, a class or college auditorium, chapel, or a remodeled room which was little used previously.  In the 1980’s and 1990’s spaces which included necessary technical equipment such as lighting booths, grids, and wings were developed, so the performance space operated in an adequate theatre space.

[page 64] Administrators accepted the curriculum changes and performances of plays because the stigma of theatre as entertainment lessened or disappeared as the play contents dealt with moral, biblical and religious themes.  Most of the churches which supported a denominational college accepted theatre because they had some type of play performance during their church year, and these church actors were entering colleges.  Censorship issues arose from time to time, as both administrators and professors defined the role of theatre in the Christian college setting.

In some colleges during the 1970 and 1980’s the student body was no longer exclusively from the denomination which supported the college.  The diversity of the student body, therefore, helped to change attitudes toward theatre on campuses.  At times the denominations lost, or abdicated, their control over the college, thus the "parochialness" of the college dissipated, and pluralism entered.

By the 1980’s there were:

1. Colleges originated by main line denominations, but no longer affiliated with a denomination;

2. The evangelical or conservative college which had nominal support and control by  a denomination;

3. The evangelical or conservative denomination which continued control over the college;

4. The fundamentalist denomination which completely controlled the college.  There were very few theatre activities in these colleges.

In 1995, over 100 institutions made up the Christian College Coalition. Sixty of these colleges had no Theatre Departments, twenty-six had one person departments, seven had two person Departments, five had three person Departments and two had four person departments.

[page 65] Evangel College in Springfield, Missouri, an Assembly of God College, laid several foundations in the intersections between religion and theatre.  Nonna Childress Dalan initiated the theatre program in the 1960’s.  By the 1970’s she was editing a newsletter, leading an annual summer workshop, touring to churches (The Communicators), and directing productions on campus.  Upon her death the Evangel festival was transferred to Malone College where the participants for many years organized the national theatre organization entitled Christians In Theatre Arts (CITA).  Evangel is an example of what a one-person Theatre Department can accomplish.

A two person department, comprised of Albert and Bertha Johnson, existed at Redlands University with a varied and active program from the 1950’s through the 1970’s.  Until they retired, Albert and Bertha Johnson organized, wrote the plays, and directed the Drama Trio, which toured to churches throughout the United States.  They also directed campus productions, were active in local and national theatre organizations, promoted an annual playwriting contest, and wrote several books on religion and theatre.

Seattle Pacific College (Free Methodist Denomination) in Seattle Washington is an example of the larger Theatre Department among church related colleges.  The Theatre Department is located in the Division of Fine Arts.  Chairman James Chapman has served for over thirty years along with George A. Scranton.  Donald Yanik is the Scenic and costume Designer, and Steve Beatty is the Technical Director.  They hire professional lighting designers for each of their 5 major productions a year.  A part-time Director for their touring program is hired with additional adjunct faculty funding.  They have remodeled the theatre space, added technical workshops for clothing and stage construction, developed the curriculum, directed campus plays, acted in plays, directed a touring troupe, encouraged the development of the Christian Professional Theatre Company named Taproot Theatre Company, and are active in [page 66] national and local theatre organizations.  Seattle Pacific is an example of what a three plus person department can accomplish.

Time and space do not permit  this writer to elaborate on programs in other colleges and universities, which also contributed to the intersections between religion and theatre in unique ways.  Other persons representing such programs include James Carlson of Hamline University, co-editor of Religious Theatre, Paul Baker of Baylor University who initiated the Speech Four Trio, William Brasmer  with his one and only "wrap-around the audience" four stage theatre space at Denison University.  There are numerous other persons whom I have not mentioned who have nonetheless contributed to the intersections between religion and theatre.

Dr. Rood’s work at Alfred College (Seventh Day Baptist) in New York State represents the one person who directed and acted in plays to make Theatre a viable option in a Church Related College.  As a college student in the 1930’s he participated in a variety of plays such as Juno and the Paycock and The Inspector General.  As a professor in the 1940’s he directed such scripts as One Touch of Venus and Murder in the Cathedral.  As an actor he portrayed Mephistophilis in Doctor Faustus, and Admetos in Alcestis.