A Rationale For Theatre at Cedarville University
By David H. Robey, Ph. D.
Director of Theatre
The theatre major at Cedarville University is a comprehensive theatre program. Our major requires that students of theatre receive training in stage performance, technical theatre, theatre history, dramaturgy and religious drama. It is our desire to prepare students for graduate schools, educational programs, community theatre participation and public media who will excel in their art as they honor God with their lives. As Christians of the 21st Century, a strong commitment to theatre and theatre education is appropriate for Cedarville University.
Theatre at Cedarville makes an exciting, demanding, and energetic contribution to our academic and social community. Incarnation is the heart of theatre -- making the "word" become "flesh." Effectively accomplished, theatre awakens the members of the audience to an awareness of their spiritual capability. A good story, powerfully conceived and well executed, forces the consideration of significant questions. In his book, Religion and Dramatics, Herbert Sennett states, "In a sense, all drama is religious because it deals with humanity in relationship: relationship with other humans, other living beings, nature, and with the spiritual realm."
Skilled and capable artists who understand this dramatic relationship are usually a product of a successful school of theatre. Many public universities have fine theatre programs that teach skills in performance and technical theatre. However, few of these consider the claims of Christ. Schools tend to reproduce what they are.
Historically, few Christian colleges have built successful theatre programs. Some suggest that the problems are related primarily to lack of facilities and personnel. However, it is the feeling of this author that the greatest enemy of a Christian theatre program is the lack of vision for the role of theatre in our culture. An examination of the personnel who serve in any capacity in stage, film, or television reveals that few live their lives or use their craft in such a way as to acknowledge God's Word or His truth. This fact should not be a mystery. Those who do not honor God in their disciplines were often trained in educational systems which do not honor God. In fields of professional employment such as education, music, business or medicine, can be found both those who base their work upon God's revealed truth and those who ignore His claims. Yet, in the fields of employment related to professional theatre, there has been a historic disregard of the discipline by the evangelical community. Perhaps the wretched state of moral decline evidenced in our culture today can be partially linked to the Church's abandonment of theatre and media related entertainment.
The Cedarville University theatre program offers an approach that is thoroughly Christian and thoroughly familiar with current trends in professional theater. Students involved in theatre at Cedarville are a part of a collaborative team that creates exciting theatre art. Students learn to care for this art form as a gift of God that engages its community, critically examines our culture, and clarifies our beliefs (in keeping with the University Objectives #5 and #7). The act of creation of a work of art has the potential to be an act of worship and ministry for those involved. Much of what happens in the program is an attempt to better understand the creative activity of God. The desire for such activity may be seen in the increased use of drama in evangelical and fundamental churches.
The theatre faculty at Cedarville believe that for too long, the evangelical community has ignored the value of the communication tools of theatre in the quest to share Christ with the world. Our contemporary culture is ready for the communication riches that compose the world of theatre. The vital union of theatre, culture and ministry is a primary theme in the theatre program at Cedarville. It has often been said from our chapel platform that if the world is to be won for Christ, it will not come from the pulpit but from the pew. We also believe that the message of Christ's love to a dying and lost world can come through the stage.
Throughout history, each society has identified with certain communication tools and the Church has sought to respond to those tools. Styles of pulpit rhetoric, printed materials, musical styles and the actual building of churches reflects the cultural values of the time period in which they were established. Communication is again changing in America and the world as we enter the twenty-first century. This culture, hovering on the edge of a new century, is completely open to the ministry benefits of Christian drama.
II. The Value of Christian Drama
The American and international culture of the 1990's is not only responsive to but hungry for good Christian drama. There can be no denying the contemporary popularity of drama in the church. Biblical pageants, group dramatic presentations, and costumed character portrayals are a regular part of many church music and worship services.
Drama is an art form by which humanity has historically sought to better understand the world around them by probing cultural truths and questioning eternal forces. Drama is a tool by which created beings have sought to explore, come to grips with, and deepen their awareness of God, each other, and eternity. "All art forms, whether we are considering music, painting, drama or any of the many gifts that He has given, are part of God's creation. They are not doomed, by being allied to earth; they are good, not least because they spring directly from the Creator's own image in man. All art forms, because of the fallenness of man, are subject to abuse." (Murray Watts, Christianity and the Theatre.) If Watts comments reflect the timeless nature of drama, why has Church drama become so popular today?
A. We live in a world of visual communication.
Visual communication, for adults and children alike, is the primary source by which information and instruction is received in our culture. This visual orientation can be used effectively in communicating biblical teaching and in worship. Pastor Bill Barber, pastor of the Plymouth Baptist Church of Plymouth, MI., has built a very successful drama ministry in his church, annually offering a 3-4 week series of dramatized messages. In full costume and stage make-up, he has told the story of Abraham, Jacob, Simon Peter, and Thomas to mention a few. Pastor Barber states, "Drama seizes the visual orientation of our culture and employs it as a vehicle for God's truth. Dramatization that is faithful to the context of scripture creates an 'I am there' experience. . . even for a 21st century audience."
B. Drama Communicates With a Contemporary Audience
Robert Smyth of the Lamb's Players (a professional Christian theatre company) states: "The church today is exploring fresh ways to communicate to the society around it. Many churches recognize that while the truth of Scripture does not change, cultural expression does." We all recognize that it is becoming increasingly difficult to communicate with strangers in our culture. Traditional door to door evangelism and personal distribution of literature have become increasingly dangerous in our culture. As traditional methods of evangelism loose potential, it behooves the church to explore alternate tools with which to share the truth of Scripture.
The role of Christian drama as a tool to reach hearts takes on even greater importance in the work of Leland Ryken when he states in his text, The Liberated Imagination, "The Christian witness, moreover, needs to use the best cultural forms available, and to use all such forms in order to appeal to the whole range of society."
C. Drama Communicates with an Audience in a Unique Way
As Christians we are concerned that our culture is increasingly suspect of the church. We must recognize that some unchurched people are literally afraid to attend an evangelistic church. These people may be more willing to attend a play than a traditional church service. As Pastor Barber states, "In attending a drama, there is no intimidating 'spotlight' shining on the unbeliever as is often perceived in a regular church setting. Instead, the spotlight is on the biblical character, and that invites an unbelieving friend to draw near to the truth."
D. Drama is a powerful means for expressing biblical truth
Successful church dramas cause audience members to come to a deeper understanding of Bible content and the importance for application of biblical truth. The wonder of Bethlehem, the horror of Golgotha, and the thrill of the empty tomb have all been portrayed in ways that clarify and deepen an awareness of the inspired biblical record. Religious drama helps a visually oriented audience to see more clearly the wisdom of serving Christ and the folly of not addressing life's issues through biblical truth. The joy of salvation, parental heartbreak over rebellious children, and fear of giving up a comfortable life style to go to a foreign mission field are all contemporary issues that can be dealt with through biblically sound drama. Herbert Sennet writes in his text, Religion and Dramatics: The Relationship Between Christianity and Theatre Arts, "A dramatic presentation has the unique quality of empathetic identification that few art forms offer. It has the power to touch the very souls of people, and to draw them in the illusion of life that is offered so that total identification may take place." Sennet goes on to state, "drama can be used quite effectively to get the message of the church across so that it becomes a catalyst for God to work in the heart of the viewer." Harold Ehrensperger states in his book, Religious Drama: Ends and Means, "The religious value of a play in performance depends upon its effect on the group that participates as audience."
In their book, "A drama Ministry," Paul Miller and Dan Dunlop identify five reasons for the use of Drama as a teaching medium in the church.
- Drama incorporates methodology that Jesus used: storytelling, object lessons, and audience involvement.
- Drama has origins in the Church; it is time for the Church to redeem the medium.
- Drama has innate capacity of immediacy; it attracts attention and involves the audience.
- Drama relates spiritual concepts to everyday life in non-threatening terms.
- Drama opens the door to further discussion and activity.
The goal of any communication tool in the Church should be to awaken and compel the viewer to see Christ in a new and deeper relationship. The church drama is a tool that can be used to open doors, shed light, raise questions, and provide answers for the questions that fill and motivate our souls.
The issue of drama in the Church today is not one of should, but of how? The how of this issue relates to the importance of education and training. The key to the success of all dramatic performances is the quality of the performance. If the standards are low and the activity amateurish, the audience will, at best, be simply amused. But, if the production is written, staged, and rehearsed well, the results can be very effective.