We praise God for his unmerited favor in blessing our recent production of BIG RIVER. Below are some reflections on the experience by those who were a part of it in one way or another.
“For me, the gift of being in this show behind my son was once-in-a-lifetime and absolutely priceless.”
“BIG RIVER has given me the opportunity to see what a show looks like from the perspective of the production team, which I had never done before. It has been such a blessing for me help create a timeless story from paper all the way to the stage. Every person involved is so gifted and kind, showing me again how awesome God makes his people. There is not one second of this process I would take away for anything. Thank you for letting me be a part of it.”
“I think that the meaning of this show boiled down to the question of ‘who do you serve?’ All the characters had to make decisions about whether they were living for their own self-interest that allowed them to see others as a means to get what they wanted – or to live by seeing others as valuable and worthy of sacrifice. Being involved with this show made me ask myself the same question – who do I serve in the way I live my life?”
“Wonderful show; incredible energy; fabulous energy all around.”
“Sadly, it was surprisingly easy (to take on the role of ‘King’ – who at first glance is a comic character but who in reality is probably the most villainous character in the show). The racism in this show is not one of hatred, like we saw so much of in the 20th century; it’s more one of apathy and indifference. All I really had to do when I was on stage was to ignore the slave characters as if they weren’t really there, or at least not really people. The sad thing is that this sort of racism is still so prevalent today. Certainly there are people who act out of hatred or anger, but there are so many more who just ignore the real problems that people of color have to deal with in their everyday lives. And it’s terribly deceptive. We think that because we ‘treat everyone the same’ that we aren’t racist. We think proclaiming ‘all lives matter’ puts us above the problem, but all it really does is allows us to enjoy our white privilege without distressing ourselves over the distress of our fellow man. Certainly all lives matter, but when there are people who are singled out as if their lives don’t matter, it’s time to single them out for support. Sometimes it’s not enough to ‘not be part of the problem;’ we need to be part of the solution.”
We would be glad to keep this conversation going. If you were involved in the show, or if you were a member of the audience, please leave a comment below. Soli Deo Gloria.