Fringe Festival play deals with spiritual doubt and homosexuality
TORONTO, ON—When a Mennonite teenager decides to give up on Christianity, his gay best friend tells him to hold onto Jesus.
"David and Jonathan" is an original, one-act play by veteran Christian playwright and actor Richard Peters. It debuted this summer at Walmer Road Baptist Church, during the Toronto Fringe Festival.
Starring teenage actors Henry Fenn-Straatsma and Shadrack Jackman in the title roles, the play takes funny, heartfelt and challenging look at dealing with spiritual doubts and postmodernism, especially in relation to homosexuality.
"I felt convicted to write this," Peters says. "It's about telling a story that has not been told, to my knowledge, within the church."
He says that while the church often talks about homosexuality from a moral or theological perspective, the issue is too rarely discussed in "in terms of real people's lives."
"Homosexuality can't just be a topic that's debated," Peters adds. "It has to be talked about on a personal level. We need to see some actual human beings up on stage struggling through these issues."
A committed Christian, Peters is founder of BrokenOpen Theatre, Canada's only theatre specializing in training Christians. He first started writing the play six years ago. But when a Baptist pastor asked him recently to help guide a young, Christian, gay actor, Peters decided it was time to bring the ideas he'd been developing to the stage.
"[The boy's story] was heartfelt and heart-wrenching," he says. "I really felt for this kid. I have taught probably half-a-dozen Davids, if not more, and I have definitely taught two or three Jonathans.
"In the short time since I've started doing this play, I've had five Christian parents now who've talked to me about the struggle they've gone through with their kids. Just yesterday I spoke to a guidance counselor, from a Christian school, who told me he had two students say they felt suicide seemed like the best option, because they know the church condemns them carte blanche.
"I've had two different pastors see the show and say, 'Everyone needs to see this play, but I could never show it in my church.'"
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