Competition for General Conference

As I write this, the next installment of General Conference is less than twenty-four hours away. Millions of Latter-day Saints will turn to those sermons for spiritual inspiration and insight.

This April, General Conference has some significant competition.

Not that competition is the best word to use. It's not like it's an either/or proposition. Go ahead and drink in the spiritual nourishment of the Conference sessions. But you would be a fool -- yes, a fool -- if you pass on an extra helping of nourishment that's available to anyone who can get to Orem, Utah, and back within one evening's drive.

I'm talking about the Center Street Theater's production of J. Scott Bronson's play Stones. This play could be described as good, it could be described as moving, powerful, or even great. It could be, but every one of those descriptions would be inadequate.

To adequately describe Stones, you must resort to words like consummate, brilliant, archtypical.

This play is transcendent.

Bronson has written a quintessential piece of LDS drama that does what all pieces of LDS drama should aspire to. It presents two scenes from Biblical times, one between Abraham and Isaac, and one between Jesus and Mary. Both scenes involve common themes: obedience to God, sacrifice, death, understanding, the love between parent and child.

But I will give no synopses of these two plays-within-a-play. I won't attempt to steal their thunder by spilling any more beans than I already have. I will only say that Stones has everything you could possibly want from a play.

You want emotion? Deep, powerful, significant emotions will ooze from the walls and drench you in a monsoon of them. Don't leave home without your kleenex.

You want insight? You will think thoughts you've never thought, realize things that never occurred to you, understand familiar stories in ways that will make them -- not feel new -- but be new.

You want symbolism? Stones reeks of symbolism. Stones gives Isaiah himself a run for his money on symbolism.

You want irony? Mind-bending irony skitters out of the woodwork where you never saw it coming.

You want good acting? You will discover superlative acting.

You want to care? You will care about Abraham, Isaac, Jesus, and Mary in ways you never thought of before.

You want redemption? It's there for the taking, but at a hefty price. You'll understand the price, and you'll rejoice in those that paid it.

You want spiritual fulfillment? There'll be enough there to give General Conference some competition.

Humor? There's even a few laughs. But not many. They don't belong there.

You'll even get fine music that accentuates the experience perfectly, specially written for the performance. But only between the two plays. No mortal music could enhance the power of the simple, direct performance that will blow you away. It can only punctuate it as you contemplate the transcendent experience you just had.

If you don't get any of this out of experiencing Stones, check your pulse. You are dead.

Stones is a masterful example of how vital art is to one's emotional, intellectual, and spiritual development. Stones works on you in ways that worship services never could, important as they are. Stones shows all LDS playwrites how it's done. For a couple of hours, Bronson is the master.

DO NOT MISS THIS PLAY.

Am I selling Stones too much? Am I building it up so high that it cannot meet expectations, as so often happens? No, not this play. It can't be built up too much. It will transcend any expectation.

Every member of the church should attend Stones like every member of the church should view General Conference.

--  
D. Michael Martindale
dmichael@wwno.com