playbill vip

“A man was traveling on a journey, when he was attacked by robbers.”

We love stories. Stories have a way of penetrating our hearts. They awaken in us joy, sadness, wonder, anger, and a myriad of other emotions. Stories are what make theatre so great. Stories are what make the Fringe Festival so great… After all, where else can you see 130 different stories in a period of two short weeks?!

The musical you are about to see was inspired by a story Jesus told centuries ago. Often referred to as the parable of The Good Samaritan, it can be found in the Bible in the book of Luke (chapter 10, verses 25-37). Jesus had a knack for conveying profound messages through creative stories. In this story, Jesus is addressing a question that was asked to him. The question was, “Who is my neighbor?” To put it another way, Jesus was being asked, “Who am I required to show compassion to? Is there anyone I do not have to show compassion to?” Jesus’ answer surprised everyone. As our team delved deeper into the context of the story, we discovered that the term “Good Samaritan” was truly an oxymoron to Jesus’ original audience. Jewish people hated Samaritans. They simply weren’t good. Likewise, Samaritans avoided Jews at all costs.

In our fictional world of Zamboria, Woodshires and Zamborians are at odds with each other. The battle lines are drawn and the sides clearly marked. But we don’t have to look very far in the real world to these same invisible lines drawn between differing groups of people. There are so many things that have the potential to divide us: race, religion, and political ideologies (just to name a few). How do we hold true to who we are while at the same extending compassion to those not on our side? How do we see others as more than the side they represent?

As he so often did, Jesus ends his tale with an invitation to begin a conversation. “Which of the three do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by robbers?” he asks his audience. Throughout the creative process, this story has challenged the four of us (as well as the entire cast and crew) to examine our own biases and prejudices. Our conversations have helped us to discover where we have unwittingly drawn lines in our lives and the steps we need to take to begin crossing them. It is our hope that this show will invite the same kind of conversations in your life.

There are so many people we have to thank for making this show a reality. Virginia Schultz and the Communications Dept. for all their hard work. Jeremy Kennedy for designing the awesome artwork you see on the cover of this playbill (if you need a great designer, check out www.kenedik.com). Will Dickinson and Adrienne Evans for their rad business and Excel skills. Randy Gillis for his wisdom. We'd also like to thank Faith Murray, John & Marie Murray, Dan Sherfield, everyone who helped with ticket and button sales at all our campuses, and our awesome Street Team for spreading the word at Fringe. Finally, we'd like to thank our Summit families for continuing to support and encourage the BCL team! 

Thank you so much for taking the time to journey down The Road to Zamboria with us. Happy Fringing!

-Lauren, Darling, Michael, & Marco