By Terry Weber

“How come The WordPlayers is producing BIG RIVER: THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN? Aren’t you guys a company of Christian theatre artists? Don’t you do plays that are culturally-relevant? Don’t you look at them from a faith-based perspective?”

Well … there’s the part where Huck chafes against legalism…

HUCK: It got pretty rough living in that house, seeing as how they was so regular and decent in all their ways.

MISS WATSON: Huck, you know how I’ve told you about the good place and the bad place? If you don’t change, you’re going to the bad place. Live like me, and you’ll go to the good place.

HUCK: Well, I can’t see no advantage in going where you’re going, so I’ve made up my mind I won’t try for it. (Luke 11:42)

Then there’s Huck’s realization that something profound is missing from his life …

“I have lived in the darkness for so long
I am waitin’ for the light to shine” (Isaiah 9:2)

Jim and Huck turn over their lives to something they can’t control or fully understand …

“So look out for me, oh muddy water
Your mysteries are deep and wide
And I got a need for going someplace
And I got a need to climb upon your back and ride” (1 Cor. 2:7)

And Jim knows that somehow that his true identity is yet to be realized …

“And I gotta hide someplace to find myself again” (2 Cor. 5:17)

The slaves very openly express where their hope lies …

“Jesus will be there to meet me
He will reach his hand in mine
I will no more be a stranger
When I reach the other side.”

Despite what their culture has taught them, Jim and Huck recognize the true humanity and worth of each other …

“I see the friendship in your eyes
That you see in mine
But we’re worlds apart, worlds apart
Together, but worlds apart.” (Col. 3:11)

Jim’s longing to be free still resonates with so many in our world today, on many different levels …

“I wish by golly I
Could spread my wings and fly
And let my grounded soul be free” (John 8:32)

What a profound journey we take with Huck and Jim in BIG RIVER. Please join us on the raft, riding the back of the mysterious, deep, and loving water.