Curtain going up on drama club for youths

"Jesus is as close as the mention of His name," she drawls, reciting lines on a page before her. "Now, how cool is that?"

Dakota is one of the five young actors currently involved with the Genesius Drama Ministry at St. Vincent de Paul. Named for the apocryphal patron saint of actors, the Genesius Drama Ministry aims to "proclaim the Word of God through drama, and reflect upon how the Word impacts who we are and how we live our lives," according to facilitator Deborah Chard-Wierschem.

Dramatic changes

"Drama has a way of evoking emotion," she explained. "It has a way of personalizing the themes and principles behind the skits that you're doing. It's a way of provoking thought and critical thinking. It also requires, even for those observing, more active participation in the presentation of the message."

Santa and Jesus

She then joins Dakota to rehearse a skit called "Why Jesus is Better Than Santa Claus." Hilarie becomes a Valley Girl to Dakota's southern belle, and the rehearsal moves into high gear.

The teens are preparing for a Dec. 18 performance for the religious education classes. Some of the skits are from a tried-and-true repertory, while the members of the drama ministry wrote others. All are tied together by the common theme of faith.

Scripts

Life-relevant skits "apply Scripture principles to everyday events," she said, such as clarifying what Jesus might do when faced with a schoolyard bully.

Liturgically relevant skits deal with the liturgical life, prayers and saints of the Church. One recent example centered around explaining the "Our Father," using words and pantomime to explore the meaning behind Jesus' prayer.

Christmas skits

* Hilarie and Mary Florence Sullivan, 12, have been given the task of dramatizing a hidden meaning of "The Twelve Days of Christmas," which might have originally been a "secret catechism" for closet Catholics in Protestant England.

Ms. Chard-Wierschem counsels them to split each verse in half for greater dramatic impact. The girls take to this suggestion immediately.

"The partridge in the pear tree," Hilarie begins. Mary Florence finishes with "is Jesus Christ." The two share a delighted look, pleased with the result.

* Next, a lively scene -- split between brothers Stephen and David Frey -- gives detail to the legend of the candy cane. David, playing an elderly man, hobbles into the scene and narrates the story, while Stephen takes a non-speaking role as the elderly man's younger self, acting out the creation of the candy cane by using hand movements, a marker and a white board.

"This is one of the hardest scenes to do," Ms. Chard-Wierschem told Stephen, "because you don't have any lines." She then instructs him that he'll need to express what's happening through the movement of his body.

* A third skit, about a typical American family dealing with Christmas commercialism, involves the whole cast.

Mrs. Chard-Wierschem, energetically portraying the mother, pulls gifts out of a paper bag, describing in detail which family member would receive which gift, as Dakota talks on the phone to a friend and the brothers fight over a video game.

More to come

The ministry, which has been in existence for two years, is looking to expand.

"We're trying to inventory our resources," said Ms. Chard-Wierschem. "We're looking at what materials are out there. We're looking at a Passion play. It depends on the number of kids who are interested and the number of volunteers who are able to help."

(The legend surrounding St. Genesius states that the ancient Roman actor, while portraying a catechumen in a play meant to satirize Christian beliefs, underwent a conversion and became a Christian. Brought before Emperor Diocletian, Genesius was ordered to renounce his newfound faith. When he did not, Diocletian had him martyred.)

(12-05-02) [[In-content Ad]]