Theatre company to tour

Northwestern College’s 10-member touring theatre company will perform Faith & Folly: Old Testament Stories on Stage, scripted verbatim from Scripture, in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin during the college’s spring break, March 7–15.

The tour includes performances at seven churches and two schools. Performance sites include Mason City, Pella and Waterloo, Iowa; Lansing, Lemont, Oak Forest, Rochelle and South Holland, Ill.; and Delavan, Wis. Visit www.nwciowa.edu/theatretour for performance times and details.

The stories of Faith & Folly include Cain and Abel, Moses and Pharaoh���s daughter, David and Goliath, and Elijah and the prophets of Baal.

The company’s director, Jeff Barker, believes the oldest body of theatrical literature may actually be from the Hebrews rather than the Greeks. Barker is an award-winning playwright and Northwestern professor. He and Dr. Tom Boogaart, professor of ancient Hebrew language and biblical literature at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Mich., have been exploring the possibility that stories in the Old Testament were intended to be communicated through drama.

Northwestern’s touring theatre company has performed across the United States, including off-Broadway in New York and at the Crystal Cathedral. In 2008, the college’s award-winning theatre program received national media attention for Terror Texts, scripted by Barker and based on passages from Joshua, Judges, II Kings and II Samuel.