Roots among the rocks

It wasn’t your typical opening night for a play. Instead of a theatre, Roots Among the Rocks opened on the stage in the middle of the morning session of General Synod 2010. But it was a packed house and at the end of the performance, the whole crowd was on its feet in a rousing standing ovation.

The play, which was sponsored by Huron University College, began when Judy Steers, co-ordinator of youth initiatives for the Anglican Church of Canada and Jenny Salisbury who works with Steers as assistant director of the Ask & Imagine youth theology program, put an ad in the Anglican Journal last year. Twenty people applied and six were selected to be the co-creators and cast of the play. Through a series of monologues and scenes built from amalgamations of people they have met, they tell stories of faith, doubt, Christians and non-Christians, love, pain, people of all ages and experiences within or outside the church.

The production, which also includes the cast’s original rap music, will be touring across Canada throughout the summer. A performance schedule can be found at http://rootsamongtherocks.blogspot.com/

William Danaher, dean, faculty of theology, Huron University College has this to say about the program: