The Christians

by Lucas Hnath
directed by Amy Rummenie

May 20 – June 11, 2016

In association with Mixed Blood Theatre

Twenty years ago, this church was just a modest storefront. Now our congregation of thousands gathers together to share faith and hear a monumental announcement from Pastor Paul. This will be a day of celebration… But what Pastor Paul has to say changes everything, shaking the foundation of his church, community, and home.

Backed by a live choir, The Christians is both epic and unexpectedly intimate, an unflinching look at faith in America – and its power to unite or divide.

Reviews

Star Tribune’s 7th Best Show of the Decade

“As we mentioned when they won Company of the Year in 2015, the question we always ask whenever we see a show from Walking Shadow Theatre Company is “How the hell are they pulling this off?!!” Normally this question is asked in regards to the artistic risks company artistic directors John Heimbuch and Amy Rummenie are tackling with their productions, but lately it’s been in regard to how they’ve managed to beat every company to the punch on getting the

rights to a hot script (see last season’s The Whale). And few scripts are as hot right now as The Christians; Lucas Hnath’s incisive examination on the binding and dividing powers of faith that is getting its area premiere from Walking Shadow in association with Mixed Blood.”
– Todd O’Dowd, l’etoile

“More than 2.7 million Minnesotans identify as Christian of some stripe. That means 2.7 million Minnesotans need to see “The Christians,” Lucas Hnath’s intelligent and compassionate play about a congregation in crisis. 

Casting the net wider, if you belong to any group driven by ideology — political, economic, social — Hnath (pronounced Nayth) has something to say to you about the erosion of friendship when strongly held beliefs create friction.

If you are intrigued by the evolution of the self — the emotional and intellectual journey of all sentient humans — Hnath’s play also has something worthy to say to you. Lastly, if a thoughtful, nuanced play with characters wrestling for meaning has an appeal, get to Walking Shadow Theatre Company’s production, which opened Friday at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis.

Director Amy Rummenie demonstrates a keen eye for the feelings and reality of an evangelical congregation. Her staging never satirizes, for Hnath writes about ideas and people that clearly mean a great deal to him.

Very honest portrayals result from this approach. Pullam gives himself over to agonizing emotion as Joshua explains why he needs to believe in hell, based on his own experience. Wheeler’s Pastor Paul has that perfect mix of confidence and piety (call it egotism) — certain that his new convictions have been spoken to him by God. But as Allen’s Elizabeth points out, is it God’s voice, or our own wishful thinking?

It is impossible to watch “The Christians” without thinking of the brittle ideological debates in this election season. Do our beliefs define us, to the exclusion of others? Can we learn to disagree and not dissolve? What are we made of?”
– Graydon Royce, Star Tribune

“So far this year I’ve seen 32 theater productions, plus five play readings, a dance show, a 24 hour play festival and a night of improv comedy. Out of all that, Walking Shadow Theatre Company’s current production of Lucas Hnath’s The Christians is the best thing I’ve seen all year.

I will try my best to leave the bulk of the surprises for your seeing the show yourself because, wow, should you see this show yourself. But I also imagine with a title like The Christians, you might need some convincing to go. And those who hear the title and don’t need convincing might be going for the wrong reasons ‐ either to have their faith mindlessly reinforced, or to see some good ol’ godless, liberal artist‐style, Christian‐bashing. Neither of those is going on here.

So: smart, yes. Funny, yes. Moving, surprisingly, and absolutely yes. Pastor Paul (Andrew Erskine Wheeler ‐ where the heck did he come from? he’s amazing) drops a faith bomb of sorts on the unsuspecting congregation of his megachurch.

Thankfully once Pastor Paul makes his announcement I then realize, “oh, it’s gonna be THIS kind of play. This play wants me here, wants all of us here. This play NEEDS us here. This is gonna be great.” Sometimes after a long day at work, if the play doesn’t engage me, my attention can wander. My body may even strongly encourage me to take a nap, an urge I have to actively resist giving into. For The Christians, no such worries. I was riveted from start to finish. The performances are thrilling. The mindf*ck this play works on the audience is one of the most exciting things I’ve seen in a long time. It’s both entertaining and thought‐provoking. It managed to put into words things I’ve been wrestling with, and things our country should be more consciously wrestling with, for a while now.

I didn’t know I needed The Christians. Thank God (pun intended) Walking Shadow knew. I want to buy myself a copy of this play. I want to read and see more things by this writer. And all these performers and production artists either reinforced my high opinion of their craft, or just introduced themselves to me in one heck of a showcase. Even if you don’t think you need to see The Christians, trust me when I say you need to see The Christians. It tackles where we are as a country right now, and challenges us to find a more humane and inclusive way forward ‐ warning us the entire time that, damn, it’s not gonna be easy. But it’s necessary. It’s a rollercoaster of a play, with a heart as big as its brain (and it’s got a pretty big brain). It’s a perfect example of why we still do live theater. This experience couldn’t happen any other way.

See The Christians. (It’s going to be hard to top this production, but the Twin Cities theater community still has seven months of 2016 left to try.)”
– Matthew Everett, Single White Fringe Geek

“Oh, Lord, does this play ever make me uncomfortable. I mean that in a good way. “The Christians,” a Walking Shadow Theatre production that opened last weekend at Mixed Blood, starts out as a worship service. But there is much more to the play than that.

The theater is done up as a church — not in the style of the little Lutheran church on the corner, but in the TV studio aesthetic of a modern megachurch. The people on stage assume the roles of pastor, pastor’s wife, church elder, associate pastor, minister of worship and praise choir. And the audience assumes the role of the congregation, like it or not.

For preshow music, there’s a selection of preludes. The choir sings pop Christian hymns whose lyrics appear on TV screens, just as they might in a contemporary church. And darned if some members of the audience don’t start singing along.

When a pastor asks everyone to join him in prayer … well, what am I supposed to do? A lifetime in church pews has given me certain reflexes. I fold my hands and bow my head.

At times like this I want my fourth wall back. That’s the imaginary barrier that separates audience and actors. But these actors — particularly Andrew Erskine Wheeler as Pastor Paul — observe no such wall. They look straight through it, directly at us, and reach through it to shake our hands. The whole thing feels so authentic that if they passed an offering plate, the audience might cough up some cash. And that’s all just the format. The play hasn’t really started yet.

Without such a strong cast, this show might drag; with these actors, it’s brilliant. Wheeler’s Pastor Paul is utterly believable as a man of faith who follows his conscience and suffers for it. Kory LaQuess Pullam, as an associate pastor who stands in Paul’s way, agonizes over his own complicity in possibly sending the souls of his parishioners to hell. Bonni Allen convincingly plays Paul’s wife Elizabeth, who loves her husband even as she kicks the last few supports out from under him.

This conflict is over doctrine, but it might just as easily have been over politics, or gender equality, or some other issue of social justice. And it could as easily come in a book club or a workplace as in a church. This play is a reminder that trouble might lurk just beneath the surface of our most important relationships. And that some of the institutions we hold most dear can be ripped apart with very little notice.”
– Eric Ringham, MPRnews

“For an hour and forty minutes, with no intermission, we’re immersed in passionate, thoughtful, far-ranging discussion about why we believe, what it means to believe and what believing feels like. How can we be sure that God is speaking to us? (“Sometimes it’s really hard to know which voice is God and which is your wishful self,” Paul says.) Why be a good person if there are no consequences for being bad? Why go to church if you don’t have to believe? How can someone’s beliefs suddenly, radically change? Whose beliefs should prevail? 

The genius of the play lies in Hnath’s egalitarian, compassionate insistence that all characters be sympathetic, sincere and three dimensional. All have back stories of some depth. None is a fool, a fanatic or a caricature. All are good people who believe strongly – to the point of changing their lives, ending meaningful relationships and choosing loneliness – that what they believe is real and best and true. All are convincing in their explanations.

Even Josh wins us over with his profound grief and fear at what he saw – or believes he saw – in the final seconds of his mother’s life. (What a powerful performance Pullam gives.) As each character makes a case, we wonder, “What if he’s right? Wait … what if she’s right?” Hnath counts on us to be open to that kind of wondering. And he leaves the play wide-open, ending it in midsentence.

He doesn’t take sides. How radical, how refreshing, especially for a play about religion. So where does that leave us? With more questions at the end than we came in with, and much to ponder. Which is an exhilarating place to be after any play. Believe it, and see this if you can.”
– Pamela Espeland, MinnPost

“This play seems very real, almost like you’re really at a church service, partly due to the way it’s written, and partly due to the excellent direction and acting. Everyone in the five‐person cast (plus the choir members, who may not speak in words but speak volumes in their reactions) gives a natural and realistic performance. Brittany Parker steps out of the choir to deliver her “testimony” and ask troubling questions, raw and nervous and believable. Charles Numrich is the church Eldar who supports Paul, but only to a point. Kory LaQuess Pullam (who only gets more impressive the more I see him) is the questioning associate Pastor who’ll rip your heart out as he talks about his dying mother. Bonni Allen, whom I associate mostly with comedy and/or musicals, is wonderful in the role of the Pastor’s wife who loves her husband and is confused by his sudden transformation. All four actors are excellent in supporting roles, but Andrew Erskine Wheeler is the star of the show and gives a phenomenal performance. There is no pretense here, no sign of acting, he just is this sympathetic, frustrating, humble, egotistical, selfish, giving, complicated, magnificent man known as Pastor Paul. I was with him the whole way in this journey and felt his every emotion, from rapture to devastation. “I have a powerful urge to communicate, but I find the distance between us insurmountable.” That’s one of the reasons we do and see theater, to help to bridge that distance between us so that we can better communicate and understand one another. The Christians is a powerful and compelling human story told in an interesting way, and is highly recommended if you like theater that challenges you and makes you think.”
– Cherry and Spoon