The catalyst for the play took place over five years ago when Mei Ann Teo, resident artist and artistic director of the PUC Dramatic Arts Society and Napa Valley Musical Theatre, heard a presentation on the Shakers’ relationship to their founder and the pattern of various generations’ reactions to iconic figures. The question was whether this applied to Adventists and their relationship through the years with Ellen White.

 

In 2006 Teo teamed with PUC students Eryck Chairez and Zach Dunn to concept a script. In the fall they cast the play, and with Chairez in the director’s seat, the team began production. The writers and cast members conducted, compiled, and re-enacted interviews in an organic process to determine which notes to include in the story. As Chairez wrote additional scenes to connect the voices, the script began to take shape.

 

As the narrative came together, however, it was obvious that the play was extending from a look at our complex interactions with White to a look at how we experience Adventism. “Ellen started off as just the subject in our play; she ended up representing the spiritual struggle of our community,” Chairez explains.

 

The goal of the finished play was to weave a wide spectrum of voices, both Adventist and ex-Adventist and varied in age, viewpoint, and experience, into a larger picture—not to give an “answer” on Ellen White or the church, but to provide a chance to dialogue, to remember, to inform, and maybe even to heal.

 

The play’s premiere, which was attended by over 1,000 guests, drew noteworthy audience members ranging from East Coast dramatists to prolific author George Knight (whose authorship includes books on Adventist heritage, including Ellen White). Charles White, a great-great-grandchild of Ellen White, flew out from Arizona with his wife, Dianne, to see the play. During the talk-back at the end of the play, both expressed gratitude for the work; Charles shared appreciation for the fact that this sort of endeavor fulfills the need for promoting awareness of these topics and looking at them from new perspectives.

 

The Dramatic Arts Society of Pacific Union College produces several performances each year and works in conjunction with PUC’s Napa Valley Musical Theater. DAS performs at locations throughout the Napa Valley, including the Lincoln Theater in Yountville and on-campus venues such as the new Alice Holst Theater.