learning my lines

A few months ago I wrote a humorous (imho) post about my new role as the pastor of a small church in Salem, MA. SCCT is running Arthur Miller’s The Crucible this summer, and I am playing the part of Rev. Samuel Parris. It’s a bit out of my norm, and I’m finding myself stretched. That’s a good thing!

The back of my script describes the play thusly: This exciting drama about the Puritan purge of witchcraft in old Salem is both a gripping historical play and a timely parable of our contemporary society. I don’t know if those words were written in 1953 when the play was published or in 2013, but they’re fairly accurate either way.

I’m making some new friends and renewing some acquaintances from last summer’s foray into the world of our local community theater. Of course, with some of our children being involved, I’ve been on the fringes of theater life for years. But actually being part of the cast, and having somewhat of a pivotal role…that’s a bird of another feather all together.

As a pastor, I’m used to public speaking. But most of the time when I am speaking my goal is to communicate truth and be myself. As Rev. Parris I have to recite someone else’s words, interpret someone else’s “self” and interact with my fellow actors, often in ways that are counter to how I would in real life.

I suppose there’s a link here to some deeper truth about the transformation that God wants to see in all of us, about putting off our old selves and being transformed into the likeness of Christ, about learning to behave and believe and become…but the cold hard truth of it all is that I’m struggling to digest Mr Miller’s 1953 guesses at 1692 dialogue and phrasing, and praying that I can learn my lines so that I’m not holding things up!