That word “relatable” troubles me. It implies that because I think something is like “me” it is therefore generally understandable and also especially good. But what about the things that are nothing like “me”? Our imaginations seem to be so limited by our personal experiences, you have to wonder if it’s even possible to understand something that sits outside of those experiences.

That expository writing class became, in large part, about the task of encouraging students to be okay with not immediately understanding the texts. In the rush to understand, we get in the way of our ability to see something as it is.

I can feel that rush to understand when people ask me, with respect to The Christians, what I personally believe. I refuse to answer the question. I’m not necessarily cagey about my beliefs (although I do tend to think that the attempt to put those beliefs into words will always result in a misrepresentation of said beliefs; I am very mistrustful of words), but I suspect that answering the question will somehow diminish the effect of the play.

I can also feel it when I’m asked if the play is based on this preacher or that preacher. (Invariably, the answer is no. It’s inspired by many different preachers and many people who are not preachers, all thrown into a blender.)

In these kinds of questions, I detect the desire to explain away something. I detect the desire to locate a single, visible “point.” And while the plot of The Christians is far from ambiguous, the play is a series of contradictory arguments. No single argument “wins.” There’s no resolution.

That lack of obvious resolution can be uncomfortable, agitating. But we can also take pleasure in the agitation.

And maybe something more complex and true becomes visible within the agitation, amidst the collision of disparate perspectives.

I think back to my very brief pre-med days. I think back to a physics class I took and to a diagram from the course textbook. I think of this diagram often: it depicted a method of seeing a very tiny particle. The particle is too tiny to see with a microscope, but a scientist could detect its presence by colliding it with lots of other particles and studying how those particles scatter.

Here’s what I’m getting at—something I believe very much:

A church is a place where people go to see something that is very difficult to see. A place where the invisible is—at least for a moment—made visible.

The theatre can be that too.

Production History

PRODUCTION HISTORY

The Christians was commissioned by and premiered in the 2014 Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville.

The Christians had its Off-Broadway premiere in 2015 at Playwrights Horizons, Tim Sanford, Artistic Director.

WHO

Paul, a PASTOR,

and his WIFE, Elizabeth,

the ASSOCIATE Pastor Joshua,

a church ELDER named Jay,

and a CONGREGANT named Jenny.

WHEN

The 21st century.

WHERE