Some of you may already know this, but I have some pretty exciting news to report. Back in late November my good friend Rob down in Australia told me that the theatre group he’s involved with, The Backyard Bard, was considering bringing their hit show, Elijah, on a US tour. I posted about this way back then, but to refresh people’s memories, Elijah is a dramatic storytelling of 1 Kings 17 – 2 Kings 2, and received great reviews when the show was on its Australian tour back in September-November. So for the past six months, I’ve been working very hard to see if there was a way to bring Elijah to State College, including trying to contact every Christian student organization on campus and many local churches. Here is the official promo by The Backyard Bard for the US tour of Elijah:
To make a long story short, Penn State Christian Grads and State College Evangelical Free Church have agreed to co-host Elijah here in September. Due to travel expenses and a need for Rob to stay behind in Melbourne to work on The Backyard Bard’s new show for the coming season Down Under, Elisha, Elijah is now a one-man show, performed by renowned Australian Biblical storyteller Simon Camilleri. Simon wasn’t able to obtain a tourist visa, but got a business travel visa, so he’s unable to charge a fee for his shows. Last week PSCG and SCEFC agreed to pay for a portion of Simon’s airfare as a gift to him, so that he can get to such an out of the way place as State College. So now it’s a done deal, and he’s coming to central PA!
We’ve scheduled two performances for Elijah:
Worship Hall, Pasquerilla Spiritual Center
Penn State University
University Park, PA
Sunday 14 September 2008 at 7:30pm
State College Evangelical Free Church
1243 Blue Course Drive
State College, PA
We’re still planning out some details, but tickets will likely cost $5 (solely to cover our costs) and be available at the door. Simon will probably be here for a few days, so we may be planning other activities as well, such as a storytelling workshop. Those extra details are all still TBD, but we’re really excited for the awesome opportunity to host this unique event! We really hope and pray that God will use it to edify current believers, and to bring new people to Christ.
There’s a lot more work to be done, especially when it comes time to go into full-gear advertising the show, but I can hardly wait! If any of you would like to consider inviting Simon to perform in your community, click here to download his invitation to host. For another sample of Simon’s work from Elijah, here is a video of him storytelling 1 Kings 18, the story of Elijah and the Prophets of Baal:
If you’re interested in seeing other video clips from The Backyard Bard, either click here or search for “The Backyard Bard” on YouTube. There are also groups set up on Facebook if you’d like to follow the progress of the US tour; just do a search for “Follow the Elijah USA Tour” and “Friends of the Backyard Bard.”
Elijah is coming! Praise God!