This past weekend, November 8-10, 2024, the Christendom Players premiered The Actor, a brand-new play by Christendom professor Dr. Daniel McInerny, based on the life of Pope St. John Paul II. The college’s annual fall play, following on the heels of last year’s poignant performance of Pope St. John Paul II’s The Jeweler’s Shop, provided an inspiring weekend of entertainment for the community, with incredible performances from the Christendom Players bringing to life the profound journey of Karol Wojtyla’s discernment from actor and artist to the priesthood.
Co-directed by McInerny, The Actor is the eleventh show that alumna Elizabeth Foeckler ’12 has directed with the Christendom Players, but her first time tackling the premiere of a drama composed by one of Christendom’s own faculty. 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 as well, 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.”
Dr. McInerny drew inspiration for this project from Pope St. John Paul II’s autobiography, in which the saint reflects on his early passion for literature and for the theater.
“As a great lover of the theater myself, how could I not be intrigued by the fact that this saintly pope grew up wanting to be an actor?” remarks McInerny. “And how did it happen that the young Karol Wojtyla’s ambition for the theater was transformed by a vocation to the priesthood? These were the questions I was eager to explore, and how fitting, it seemed, to explore them within the medium of a play.”
As the writer of the play, it was especially unique for McInerny to see the play come to life over the course of weeks of practice.
“As I argued in my book, Beauty & Imitation: A Philosophical Reflection on the Arts, a playscript is a potential drama, and it only becomes actual when it is ‘put on its feet’ on stage,” says McInerny. “I felt like Geppetto watching Pinocchio come to life.”
Professor Dr. Daniel McInerny wrote the new play.
Foeckler also remarked on the incredible experience of getting to work with the author for this performance. While directing a play that has never been performed involves many production kinks and technical difficulties, Foeckler said, “It was a really neat and exciting experience and there was an added layer of problem solving and creativity.”
“Dr. McInerny was very gracious about the whole project, and very trusting, which inspired all of us. It can be stifling to work with authors or directors who have a cookie cutter idea of what they want, but McInerny gave guidance on playing each character while enabling each student playing the various roles to have his or her own take on the role.”
The play proved to be a profound and moving experience for the Christendom community, sparking many fruitful conversations on acting and the philosophy of theatre both before and after the play’s premiere.
“This play helps make John Paul II more relatable and inspiring by giving a window into his journey to sanctity,” says Foeckler. “It really cements the fact that he was real and can be a real intercessor for us in our own journeys.”
The cast and crew of “The Actor.”
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, The Winter’s Tale, 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 more pictures from the production here.
Watch the live stream of the final performance here.
Contributed by Helen Davis ’25.