Yolanda K. Wilkinson and Joey Rizzolo of “Bible Study for Heathens”

The New York Neo-Futurists present Bible Study for Heathens, written and performed by Yolanda K. WilkinsonIt takes moxie to critique religion while performing in a church. But for Yolanda K. Wilkinson, Judson Memorial Church Loft is exactly the right place to premiere her new solo show: Bible Study for Heathens.

The show is presented by The New York Neo-Futurists and, like everything this ground-breaking theatre company does, Bible Studes for Heathens defies definition and pushes theatrical boundaries.

With hilarious visual aids, fantastically-produced videos, sock-puppets, graphics, and sometimes intense audience participation, Yolanda chronicles her personal life quest to find some kind of meaning, attachment or even divine inspiration in ten different religions she has taken part in, since her childhood. Along the way, she hones in on some disturbing truths about the American religious experience, but in the end, she—and the audience—find hope through basic, affirming, human communion.

Go See A Show! correspondent Tara Gadomski sat down after a recent performance—in the cavernous church—to speak to writer and performer Yolanda K. Wilkinson and director Joey Rizzolo. Listen in as they discuss avoiding “therapy” on stage, how to interact with audience members who may strongly disagree with you, and why religion and theatre intersect.

“We think about artistic media as having a relationship with one another, but theatre has a really close relationship with religion and it’s unique that way. And you can say that theatre has a closer relationship with religion than it does with any other storytelling medium. Because it’s the only one that requires people being in a room at the same time.”

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Barry Rowell, Ralph Lewis, Catherine Porter, Donald Warfield, and Ben Nemser of “3Christs”

Peculiar Works presents 3 Christs, photo © 2014 Jim R Moore / VaudevisualsStudents of the sordid history of psychological treatment might be aware of social psychologist Milton Rokeach’s experiment, chronicled in his book The Three Christs of Ypsilanti, to lessen the delusions of three paranoid schizophrenic patients who all believed themselves to be Jesus Christ—by putting them in close contact and encouraging them to confront their conflicting statuses as the Christ.

Ethically questionable, to say the least, but it proves fascinating source material for Peculiar Works Project to mine for their new site-specific show 3Christs, presented, appropriately, at Judson Memorial Church.

Listen in as co-creators Barry Rowell & Ralph Lewis, actors Catherine Porter & Donald Warfield, and magic consultant Ben Nemser, discuss belief, site-specificity, the messy history of treating mental illness, magic tricks, and how to play crazy without stepping on everyone else’s crazy.

“…this is not a play about religion at all, it’s a play about belief, and what we believe in…”

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