The Christendom Players brought Pope St. John Paul II’s drama, The Jeweler’s Shop, to life in the college’s Old Chapel Hall this past weekend, November 10-12, 2023. The college’s annual fall play, following on the heels of last year’s brilliant performance of The Winter’s Tale, provided an inspiring weekend of entertainment for the community, with incredible performances from the Christendom Players enacting the play St. John Paul II subtitled, “A Meditation on the Sacrament of Matrimony.”
Co-directed by Megan Meehan, ‘24, The Jeweler’s Shop is the tenth show that alumna Elizabeth Foeckler ’13 has directed with the Christendom Players, but the first play she’s tackled that a saint wrote. Foeckler has always had a particular devotion to St. John Paul II, one that developed and flourished in her time at Christendom as a theology major. The college has a strong connection to St. John Paul II, from numerous audiences with the great saint when he was alive, to the college’s student center being named after him. He even famously told Christendom’s founder, Dr. Warren H. Carroll, that “Christendom is doing a great work for the Church.”
The Jeweler’s Shop was written in 1960 by Bishop Karol Wojtyla before he was elected pope. Its three-act structure follows three sets of couples in discovering and meditating on marriage and the true meaning of love. While the play is very theologically profound, it is also “immensely real and relatable,” as Foeckler puts it.
“The characters have emotions and joys, and sorrows and wounds.” She attributes the play’s brilliance to St. John Paul II’s “incredible understanding of the human person.”
The Jeweler’s Shop also has a personal dynamic for Foeckler because of her devotion to St. John Paul II and his influence within the Christendom community. That the play would also be the first ever performed in the college’s Old Chapel Hall, where Mass used to be celebrated with a chalice and paten gifted by St. John Paul II, only made directing it an even more fulfilling experience for Foeckler.
“This play is one I have wanted to do for a long time,” says Foeckler. “When I learned about the possibility that the Old Chapel might become an auditorium, I decided that the first show in that space should be The Jeweler’s Shop. I couldn’t think of a better place to perform such a beautiful work, written by such an incredible figure of faith.”
Foeckler also remarked on the show’s impact on the student players.
“The students all took the show so seriously and worked so, so hard to bring St. John Paul II’s writing to life in a meaningful way,” concludes Foeckler. “There were some serious challenges thrown at some of the actors, and they all did incredibly well. The show has many long monologues that go on for multiple pages. These students handled them like seasoned veterans, working incredibly hard not just to memorize them, which is a feat in and of itself, but to bring them to life for the audience, to engage them and draw them into these incredible truths that St. John Paul II writes about. I’ve never seen a cast more moved by a show. It was a very unique experience — not just being challenged artistically, but also spiritually by a production.”
The Christendom Players, a student-run club, performs a play each fall and a musical each spring. In the past, the group has performed Les Misérables, The Crucible, The Drowsy Chaperone, Hello, Dolly!, Anything Goes, Murder on the Nile, The Music Man and other elaborate productions. Although Christendom does not offer a performing arts major, many students include acting as part of their extracurricular pursuits during college. The resulting showcase of talent – both musical and theatrical – draws in students across all disciplines, resulting in rich theatrical productions each academic year.
See pictures from the show here.
Contributed by Helen Davis ’25.