ACU’s theatre department is premiering the first ever “Cornerstone Production” next Tuesday. Mother Theresa Is Dead, a play by Helen Edmundson, is serving, for the first year, as part of freshman core curriculum.
Adam Hester, theatre department chair and director of Mother Theresa Is Dead, said that as ACU moved into its new core curriculum, he had a unique idea to incorporate theater into freshman Cornerstone class discussions.
“I approached Charles Mattis about the possibility of connecting a play with that Cornerstone class as an enriching experience that would be really good for the discussions in their classes and the common reading book ‘Follow Me To Freedom’,” Hester said.
Hester said the play centers around a woman who leaves her husband and 5-year-old son. She appears to have completely vanished, but feels called by God to continue to do charity work, and how deals with this nagging sense.
“This play speaks to both global responsibility and yet domestic and familial responsibility,” Hester said. “There’s a lot of discussion regarding understanding ourselves in the world as far as gaining more of a global perspective looking at issues such as poverty and needs of other countries.”
A vital part of the program is the “talkback” session that will occur after every performance each night; The cast and crew of Mother Theresa Is Dead come back on stage after a show and engage in conversation with the audience.
“Student researchers lead a talkback in which they give a little background about the playwrite and the play itself, and the themes of the play and pose a few questions for the cast and open up the questions for the audience,” Hester said.
Hester explained that the talkback sessions are kept to less than 30 minutes, but make for a good ending to the show. This is especially important for Cornerstone students, who will be expected to discuss in class and even blog about their thoughts on the play.
“We are all eager to see how this goes and I am eager to see how the students fit it into their curriculum,” Hester said. “I wouldn’t say that it was an annual thing yet, since it is the first year doing it, but I am interested to see where it goes.”
Cornerstone students are admitted for free, but other students and viewers can purchase tickets for $15 dollars online at www.acu.edu/academics/cas/theatre/ or at the ACU Theatre Box Office. Tickets for Tuesday and Wednesday night performances are already sold out.
