NGU’s upcoming play is going to be what? A look into “Reap the Whirlwind”
Andrew Davidson, Staff Writer
When you think of a play, what do you think of? Brilliant costumes. Cinematic lighting. Drama. Action. Opening on February 9, “Reap the Whirlwind” will be a play unlike any that NGU has never experienced before.
According to Dr. Webb Drake, author and director, it will be a stage reading. There will be no costumes, no props, no action, no music. Just the actors and their scripts. It will be the first time in North Greenville history a play will be a stage reading, and the second time it is a play written by faculty.
“Having it this way allows the audience to really focus on the message of the play,” said Drake. “It is very academic in nature, and so it strips all that other stuff away, and allows us to just focus on the argument.”
The play will follow a seventeen-year-old high school student, who learns about evolution in class and tells his father that he will not go to church anymore. He says that if evolution is true then God can’t exist. This sparks a court case over whether evolution should be taught in schools or not.
The play was inspired by another that Drake worked on titled “Inherit the Wind” which took place in the 1950’s. It was a court case as well, where someone was suing the school to allow the teaching of evolution.
“Well now here we are 60 years later, and the tables have completely turned,” said Drake. “So, I wanted to look at where we are now to demonstrate how much our culture has changed, and how much our school system has altered the way our students are indoctrinated.”
In the future, Drake says that he would like to pursue a publication for “Reap the Whirlwind.” Experts from around the NGU campus have worked alongside him to make sure it is as perfect as can be.
The opening night of “Reap the Whirlwind” will be on February 9 at 7 p.m. in the Billingsley Theatre. There will be another show on the eighth, before the final showing on the ninth.
Photos by Seth Atkins
