Culture, Crisis, and Community: Christianity in North American Drama at the Turn of the Millennium
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CULTURE, CRISIS, AND COMMUNITY: CHRISTIANITY IN NORTH AMERICAN DRAMA AT THE TURN OF THE MILLENNIUM John S. Sebestyen A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 2009 Committee: Ronald E. Shields, Advisor Cynthia Baron Steve Boone Bruce Edwards Graduate Faculty Representative © 2009 John S. Sebestyen All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Ronald E. Shields, Advisor In her edited volume Plays for the End of the Century, Bonnie Marranca argues that “some of the most thoughtful plays written today join poetic language to a new spiritual energy that addresses metaphysical questions, the crisis of spirit, and theological concepts such as sin, redemption, evil, and grace – formulated within an iconography of saints, angels, heaven, and hell” (xii). This project explores this issue, and demonstrates how playwrights dialogue with Christianity and culture in meaningful ways. The plays considered, which were not written for specifically Christian audiences, are Anne Chislett’s Quiet in the Land (1983), David Rambo’s God’s Man in Texas (1998), Djanet Sears’s The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God (2003), Arlene Hutton’s As It Is In Heaven (2003), Craig Wright’s Grace (2005), and Mark St. Germain’s A Plague of Angels (2006). In examining Christianity in the contemporary moment, consideration is given to how these playscripts function in a culture where the modern and the postmodern are understood as conditions of knowledge, referencing Linda Hutcheon and Jean-Francois Lyotard. Combining biblical interpretation with script analysis and cultural criticism, connections between Christianity and theatre are explored, applying the theories of Philip Yancey, Robert Webber, and Brian McLaren, among others, to investigate a “new essentialism” in the contemporary cultural moment. The study also considers how the characters in these plays work to create, sustain, or consume culture, as well as if and how they engage in any type of “culture war.” Additionally, this study explores how these plays portray representatives of Christian faith as iv they experience moments of crisis, investigating the notion of doubt and its interconnectedness with faith. These considerations reveal connections between the plays and contemporary understandings and expressions of Christianity, investigating how the lives of the characters are religious, and how these expressions of religion are connected with human experience. Indeed, the plays investigate how both Christians and non-Christians address, respond to, and engage with Christianity and the sacred in this particular cultural moment. v Dedicated to my wife Heidi, and to my students and mentors, both past and future vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To my lovely wife, Heidi – Your incredible patience, encouragement, and love helped to sustain me as I journeyed through the stages of this project. You have sacrificed so much to help me reach this final stage, and I am forever grateful. Your devotion to, and belief in, me continue to lift my spirit. Words cannot adequately express my love for you. To my dissertation committee (Ron, Jonathan, Cynthia, Steve, Bruce) – Thank you for your encouragement which helped me to “press on” toward the completion of the dissertation and for your insights which helped to strengthen the final product. Ron Shields – Thank you for agreeing to serve as my advisor. I have appreciated your keen intellect, your richly concise insights, and your commitment to helping me sculpt this material into something meaningful Jonathan Chambers – Thank you for serving as this project’s initial advisor, and for seeing it through virtually all of its stages. Your questions prompted important research and revisions, and your insights helped to shape each chapter. Cynthia Baron – Thank you for your commitment to understanding the material and to helping me present it in ways that are clear, accessible, and both intellectually and emotionally enriching. Steve Boone – Thank you for your willingness to serve on the committee, and for the spirit in which you shared your insights. Bruce Edwards – Thank you for agreeing to serve as my graduate college representative, and for your willingness to contribute useful thoughts for consideration. Lesa Lockford – Thank you for consistent and affirming communication in serving as my department’s graduate coordinator. vii Other members of the faculty of the Department of Theatre and Film, including Michael Ellison and Margaret McCubbin – Thank you for your continued personal support and encouragement. Lisa Wolford Wylam – Thank you for your feedback on my dissertation prospectus, which aided in clarifying several issues in many of the chapters of this work. Val Whipple and Louise Small – Thank you for your important contributions to the department, and for your helpful communication in my time away from campus. I thank my colleagues for providing support and camaraderie as we traveled the road of graduate school together – including Matthew, Dale, Chris, Jim, Kurt, Travis, Carrie, Yonghee, Nadia, Terese, and Geoff. Thanks to Arlene Hutton and Mark St. Germain, for providing me with manuscripts of their plays before the publication dates. Thanks to Beth Blickers and BJ Jones, for providing me with manuscripts of Mr. Wright’s play, as well as to Ms. Blickers for providing the permission to write about it. Thanks to Stephanie Sandberg, for connecting me with Ms. Hutton. I thank my colleagues in the Department of Communication Arts at Trinity Christian College: Annalee Ward, Craig Mattson, and Sherry Barnes, for being such delightful partners in education and such affirming fellow scholars and educators. Similarly, I thank those working at Trinity in other departments who have consistently encouraged me as I continued through the writing phase of the dissertation: Liz Rudenga, MaryLynn Colosimo, Bob Rice, Yudha Thianto, David Brodnax, Frank Hensley, Mandi Maxwell, Bruce Leep, Rhoda Mattson, Aron Reppmann, and Mark Peters, among others. viii I thank Debbie Hendricks and Desiree Duff for inspiring me to pursue teaching and directing theatre on the collegiate level. The experience of working with you motivated me toward a similar career goal. I thank fellow theatre colleagues from various schools who provided encouraging support in the past few years, specifically those from ATHE’s Religion & Theatre Focus Group, and from Calvin’s Seminars in Christian Scholarship 2007. I am appreciative of theologians who have helped my understanding and enriched my experience of Christianity, including Kevin Crawford and Louie Konopka. Without the loving and understanding support of good and dear friends, my life during the extended writing phase would have lacked infusions of joy. In that spirit, I give thanks to Matt & Sara, Jason & Sarah, Randy & Deidra, Debbie & Matt, Dan & Holly, George & Lisa, Kasey, Mark & Candace, Adam, Dave & Trinity, Rob & Amy, Kevin & Dulcie, JoLayne & David, Melissa & Bobby, Mike & Julie, Kurt & Jeannie, and the life-giving enthusiasm embodied by the children of the friends in this list. My family continues to be a source of encouragement and love for me. As such, I am grateful to Dad & Mom, Ralph & Lisa, Jami & Ryan, Matt & Kim, Brad & Suzy, Rachel, Dave, Renee, Kylie & David, Renee, Gabby, and my dear grandmothers Sebestyen and Panta. My students continue to provide me with energy and motivation in my daily work as a teacher and director of theatre. I am blessed to love what I do, and I continue to be thankful to my students for playing such an important role in making that happen. I am grateful to my God, for so much – including strength and sustenance of body, mind, and spirit. SDG. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER II. THE PLAYS ................................................................................................. 22 The Separatists: Quiet in the Land and As It Is In Heaven ........................................ 24 Quiet in the Land ........................................................................................... 24 As It Is In Heaven .......................................................................................... 29 The Fundamentalists: God’s Man in Texas and Grace .............................................. 34 God’s Man in Texas ....................................................................................... 34 Grace ............................................................................................................ 40 The Marginalized: A Plague of Angels and The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God ................................................................................................ 48 A Plague of Angels ........................................................................................ 48 The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God ......................................... 57 CHAPTER III. CHRISTIANITY IN THE CONTEMPORARY MOMENT ...................... 65 Re-examining Christianity in the 1990s: Philip Yancey ............................................ 68 Christianity at the Turn of the Millennium: Robert Webber ..................................... 72 The Traditional Evangelical: 1950-1975 ....................................................... 75 The Pragmatic Evangelical: 1975-2000 ......................................................... 77