“I appeal to you especially, Christian Artists: I wish to remind each of you that, beyond functional considerations, the close alliance that has always existed between the Gospel and art means that you are invited to use your creative intuition to enter into the heart of the mystery of the Incarnate God and at the same time into the mystery of man.”
—Pope John Paul II, ‘Letter to Artists’, #14

As Singapore moves into the twenty-first century—and towards its dream of becoming a cultural hub for the region—it becomes increasingly clear that the Church cannot act as it were ignorant of this change. Yet as present, to my knowledge, the only active Christian theatre group in Singapore is the Catholic-run Artistes for Christian Theatre (ACT), which specialises in—and only in—that uniquely Christian form known as the Evangelistic Musical.

Miserables

This, to those not in the know, is a form which relies on a simple narrative plot, songs, and (very often) spectacle to achieve its goal of winning souls for Christ, or more precisely, of making converts. If I’m not mistaken, Touch Ministries—affliated to the influential Faith Community Baptist Church (FCBC)—also had a theatre wing one or two years ago. From what I saw of it, it went to the other extreme, producing work without an overtly Christian emphasis, although perhaps with a Christian spirit. Sadly enough, that group no longer appears to be functioning. The various parishes, churches and youth organisations also put up the occasional performance; these, too, tend to be either short skits or of the Evangelistic Musical variety.

I don't think this is anywhere near enough. Evangelistic musicals fulfil a purpose, true; but they're only one small aspect of the vast spectrum that is Christian theatre. What happened to everything else? Not only that: these works seem frightfully out-of-place (not to mention out-of-touch) in a country where theatre is often experimental, cutting-edge and noted for high production values. When was the last time you saw a Christian play reviewed in the local press (not counting The Catholic News)? If we as Christians hope to speak God's truth with any kind of power, it's long past time we came out of the closet.

Vocation & Vision

In his “Letter to Artists”, dated 4th April 1999, Pope John Paul II himself spoke of the artists’ “vocation”, and laid out a mission for them in plain terms:

Art must make perceptible, and as far as possible attractive, the world of the spirit, of the invisible, of God—the Church has need especially of those who can do this on the literary and figurative level, using the endless possibilities of images and their symbolic force.