The Orbis

A fusion of theater and religious experiences has developed into The Faith Project, the brainchild of Vali Forrister and Mark Forrester. The Faith Project began when Forrester, who serves as the Methodist minister at St. Augustine's Episcopal Church, received a grant to support a project that would relate art and ministry. Forrester is partnering with Forrister, the Producing Director of the Artistic Bridge Assemble, to generate a theatrical production based on a collection of stories about individuals' experiences with faith and religion.

The Faith Project follows the tradition of other popular oral histories such as "The Laramie Project." The "Laramie Project" chronicles the violent death of gay teenager Matthew Shepard and how Laramie, his small Western hometown, recovered. The play is a series of monologues adapted from interviews with Laramie residents. The Faith Project adopts this same method of interviewing, but is aimed at discovering "why people believe what they believe" says Forrister. Forrister, who has done graduate work concerning oral histories and has directed "The Vagina Monologues" here at Vanderbilt, believes that "these stories have a lot of power."

In order to collect the material that will eventually be used in a theatrical production, Forrister is employing the help of a group of students who will interview people with diverse backgrounds to collect stories. Students will be trained to conduct effective interviews and to ask relevant questions. Forrister hopes that many students will be involved in the entire process, from interviewing and writing on to performing in play itself. Forrister believes that being involved in the entire creative process creates "nice continuity between the interviewer and the actor;" however, he recognizes the time restraints of college students and welcomes students to be involved in any element of the project that interests them.

Forrister hopes that the stories presented in The Faith Project will reflect an array of backgrounds, cultures and experiences. "People from all different faith backgrounds and age ranges are what are going to make the project rich. The more diverse, the better," he says.

The Faith Project is not an attempt to preach or to convert, but rather it is an opportunity to celebrate the differences of our community. People from all religious backgrounds, including those who do not consider themselves religious, are encouraged to participant and share their stories as well.

There are five phases of The Faith Project: oral history instruction, interview collection, monologue scripting, script workshop and performance rehearsal. Forrister estimates that the remainder of the semester will be spent conducting interviews and hopes that the project will transition into scripting and performance by late spring.

The Faith Project is a unique endeavor; while it is conceptually similar to "The Vagina Monologues," and "The Laramie Project," the incorporation of religion is new. "Doing oral history and working it into a play isn't new, in the context of faith it is new," says Forrister.

The first meeting for The Faith Project was held the week of the Sept. Other meetings will be held in the near future. Interested students are encouraged to attend the meeting or to contact Mark Forrester at M.forrester@vanderbilt.edu or (615) 343-0261.

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