Christian Theology Vs. Theatre - 1721 Words

As a minister, worship leader, and actor, I’ve constantly had to balance these roles. Either in a church environment or in a theatrical environment. Christian theology and theatre have never intersected for me. I’ve always kept each role separate in its own category. I felt each role was different enough that they would never cross over into each other’s world. Or maybe, they have crossed over and I just did not realize the connection. I never thought that the roles had any similarities. After taking this class, I’ve learned differently. According to Johnson Savidge, there is a â€Å"symbiotic connection between theatre and Christianity; they are not just similar; rather they share major commonalities at the core of their existence.†¦show more content†¦As the psychiatrist encounter the boy’s imaginary world, his own life is exposed as passionless and frozen. The play then tells the story of a boy, who because of his repressed sexu ality, his religious mother and his hypocrite father, makes his own religion based on horses, the bible, and sex. The psychiatrist, who is not able to imagine anything like that, who has lost his passion for his wife and who walks around carrying an unfulfilled dream about passion, ends up envying the boy the ability to create and believe in a religion.† The beginning state of Equus opens with the two main characters. First, there’s Alan, a mentally disturbed 17-year-old young man who has had done a horrible crime. Second, Dr. Dysart, Alan’s psychiatrist, a complacent man who questions his profession and his relationship with his wife. The end state of these characters closes the scene; Alan getting the professional help he needs and Dr. Dysart was willing to take a look at pursuing his dreams. There are several themes we can consider that the play depicts; such as freedom, growth and development, God and religion. One of those themes I like to consider fro m the play is God and religion. Although, this play does speak to the audience from the perspective of a theological context. The audience may not initially see the play from that perspective. The story strongly points to Alan, his relationship to Jesus Christ, to hisShow MoreRelatedPostmodernism and the Simpsons10775 Words   |  44 Pagesphilosophy, politics and sociology. The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Literary Theory’s definition of postmodernism is indicative of its massive scope: â€Å"[Postmodernism] is now used to describe the visual arts, music, dance, film, theatre, philosophy, criticism, historiography, theology, and anything up-to-date in culture in general† (â€Å"Postmodernism†, 1993). It is a label given to a time period in which the abrupt influx of technology and ever-increasing cultural multiplicity must be met with new methodsRead MoreExistentialism vs Essentialism23287 Words   |  94 Pages--------------------------------------------- ---- Essentialism vs. Existentialism Essentialism: A belief that things have a set of characteristics that make them what they are, amp; that the task of science and philosophy is their discovery amp; expression; the doctrine that essence is prior to existence While, Existentialism:A philosophical theory or approach, that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free amp; responsible