Biblical ‘Terror’

DES MOINES, Iowa – Don’t expect to hear these Bible stories at church.

Cannibalism, rape, a bear that mauls children – this is the Bible?

They’re among six stories from the Old Testament acted out in “Terror Texts,” a musical at Northwestern College in Orange City.

Adding to the shocking nature of the stories are the theatrics, with actors decked out in Goth attire, a rock band and a mosh pit.

Theater professor Jeff Barker says the obscurity of the stories belies their value.

“We believe we have discovered something that has been lying dormant for many, many centuries,” Barker says.

The musical was first performed at the 1,200-student Christian college in northwest Iowa in February and came back for an encore this fall.

It is not an interpretation or adaptation, like “Godspell” or “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Barker uses the King James version of the Bible, and actors speak each verse word-by-word.

“There’s tremendous power waiting when you simply speak and act these stories aloud with faithfulness to the text,” he says, “not trying to adapt them or add a lot of bits, but just simply play what’s written there.”

Barker says he views the Bible as a “repository of ancient plays,” and when performed they can be seen in a whole new light – even the dark stories.

“I was looking for terror text, stories I can say are thematically tied together because they are frightening and mysterious and terrifying,” he says. “That’s part of what we’re saying with this whole project, that life and God himself are mysteries.”

William Dyrness, a professor of theology and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., specializes in visual arts in relation to religious tradition.

He says biblical scholars have proposed that much of the Old Testament is poetry and was designed to be sung, especially in the temple as part of worship.

“It’s not far from that to think of it as a play,” Dyrness says. “Theologians have argued the best way to understand the Bible is in terms of it being a great dramatic performance.”

He calls “Terror Text” a creative variation of that idea.

“This is obviously a very Protestant approach, where you’re attempting to understand this story so that you can see the way the Bible applies to your life,” says Dyrness. “You carry it on in your life. You become part of the story.”

Student Hannah McBride has had several roles in the performance, including a virgin who gets kidnapped at the end of a story of rape, murder and war.

McBride says it has shown her something about herself.

“This particular project has affected the way I view negative emotions – grief, anger, bitterness and spite and hate,” she says. “We are meant to be emotional people. The Bible in a lot of ways shows us that that’s OK.

“We need to embrace that we’re going to be very, very sad and we won’t know what to do with that.”

In a world in which religion often is practiced privately or individually, Barker says he hopes people will understand the Bible better through the performance.

“These mysterious, dark stories of the Old Testament, they bring us face-to-face with the suffering of the world,” he says.

“It says we are capable of great evil and we must not forget these stories, and we have some serious things to be accountable for in our own lives as a group and individually.”