Open Window Theatre’s popular play about St. Pope John Paul II is available for in-person seating and virtual viewing through May 18.
Jeremy Stanbary, executive artistic director of the Inver Grove Heights theater, joined “Practicing Catholic” host Patrick Conley for an episode airing May 14 about the play he wrote and his plans for next season.
Stanbary said he was inspired by Karol Wojty?a’s young life and his involvement in underground theater. “I thought, ‘This just needs to be a play,’” he said.
The play’s title, “LOLEK,” is the pope’s nickname while growing up. It covers the pope’s formative years during World War II in Poland, and the experiences and influences that helped form him.
“This great spiritual giant, and how he could come out of one of the darkest times in human history with such radiant faith, hope and love, and be able to transform the world with that, is something that we can all really learn from,” Stanbary said.
Wojty?a’s involvement in underground theater was very influential for the future pope, Stanbary said, because he believed so much in the power of beauty, the power of communicating culture and Christ through culture, and through art.
“Vatican II said that we need beauty in order not to sink into despair,” Stanbary said. “He understood that in a powerful way, and the power of communicating faith and hope through the arts and in preserving culture, preserving the Catholic culture, Polish culture, as the Nazis are trying to decimate it.”
Stanbary said the pope believed enough in the power of theater, art and beauty in communicating the Catholic faith, that he risked his life for it.
For the virtual version of the play, Stanbary said an “immersive recording” of the play was used, with a cameraman choreographed onto the stage with the actors.
“So, he brings the audience right onto the stage with us and into the action in a beautiful, powerful way that we haven’t seen anywhere else,” he said.
Looking ahead, Stanbary said the theater hopes to do a children’s play this summer, and staff members are planning the next season’s shows. Another original show is being considered, he said. Stanbary suggested following the theater on social media and visiting its website for updates, openwindowtheatre.org.
To hear more about Pope John Paul II’s involvement in underground theater during World War II and more about the performance of the play, listen to this episode of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show. It airs at 9 p.m. May 14, 1 p.m. May 15 and 2 p.m. May 16 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes interviews with Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who discusses his first five years with the archdiocese, and Allison Spies, who describes the life and service of Bishop Thomas Grace, sometimes called “the forgotten bishop of the Diocese of St. Paul.”
Listen to all of the interviews after they have aired:
soundcloud.com/practicingcatholic
Practicing Catholic on Spotify
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