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VMM missionaries are therefore listeners.
Our witness will be seen
when God's Spirit
is so strong within us
that it is visible
in our lives and actions.
I have just spent nine days listening with listeners! You may ask
what does the Fringe Theatre Festival have to do listening and with
strengthening God's Spirit? After seeing 17 plays, I came to the
conclusion that artists are superb listeners and whether they profess
any Faith, they see God's Spirit and make it visible.
Back to Berlin: Vern Theissen tells the story of his father, a German-
speaking Ukrainian Mennonite who was drafted into the Wehrmacht
during the Second World War. Now 80, he travels back to Berlin with
his son. As Theissen tells the story, his bemused, fearful, and
sometimes impatient love for his father gives way to a hauntingly
faltering moment as he "sees the rain reflected in [his father's] eyes."
Between Takeoff and Landing: New York Michael Walsh found himself
precariously stuck "between" things on September 11, 2001 - as his
New York-bound Aer Lingus flight from Ireland is diverted to the
limbo of small town Newfoundland for four long days. Walsh's poignant
script and solo performance are captivating as he ranges through an
impressive international cast of characters: American, Irish,
British, and Newfie.
The Christian Brothers: an Australian play set in 1950 about a
Catholic priest and teacher. John Sproule, Brother John, in this one-
person play, calls the play a great character study of somebody
reaching the middle of their profession and addressing the issues of
where they are now and what choices they have for their future. The
play is about fears and dreams and about the choices you face about
what to do next. It's really compelling. The more he doubts, the more
he feels he must pound his beliefs into the heads of his boys.
Poetry in Motion: performed on ice by 19 skaters, ages 8 to 71. The
Poet, observing the skaters and listening to their story in song,
gains insights and leaves a much wiser poet. Seventy-one year old Bob
Coe, sees himself as a boy of 8, a child whose parents believe that
it is important for a child to play. As a young man he works long,
hard days as a stevedore. Now as an old man, he hasn't lost this love
of life: "Most of the cast are a third my age, and their zip and dash
keeps me young. I'm having a hoot with these kids." "We are more
alike than unalike," learns the Poet.
The Timekeepers: came all the way from Israel. Imprisoned in the
concentration camp of Sachsenhausen, Benjamin, a deeply conservative
Jewish man, is paired up with Hans, a flamboyant gay. They fix
watches and must of necessity overcome their mutual prejudices in
order to survive. A friendship blossoms between them, and ultimately
leads them to make surprising compromises and sacrifices for one
another. This play left its viewers imbued with a spirit of optimism
about the infinite human capacity for good as it is concerned with
condemning humankind's infinite brutality.
Listening wasn't limited to the venues. Outside, we lined up to buy
tickets and lined up again an hour or so later to go into the venue.
Parents, grandparents, grown-up children back in Edmonton for the
Fringe. Children and moms, mentally handicapped adults, long lines of
daycare kids decked out in brightly colored t-shirts so as not to get
lost, thronged to the children's venues. A legion of volunteers in
blue T-shirts. Our city had become a village!
Cecily
