Sony Pictures Releasing (UK)
FILM Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks) meets Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys)
ALL FOR THE CAMERAS?
G
REETING audiences with a beaming smile and a cheerful ‘Hello neighbour’, children’s TV presenter Fred Rogers was a staple of the American TV schedule for more than 30 years. He educated, entertained and empathised with children, tackling tricky topics from divorce to bereavement. His life is explored in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, which was released in cinemas yesterday (Friday 31 January). Based loosely on a real profile piece written for US men’s magazine Esquire in 1998, the film follows fictional journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) as he seeks to find out whether Fred (Tom Hanks) is really the national treasure that everyone thinks he is. Fred, a writer, producer, puppeteer, musician and counsellor all in one, is a practising Christian and is known for helping children deal with their feelings through his show, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. His widespread popularity leads the Esquire editor to commission Lloyd to write a profile of him for the magazine’s series on heroes. The investigative journalist is initially cynical about his puff-piece assignment, and tries to write an exposé, interrogating Fred about his personal life. But he is taken aback when Fred turns the questions around on him, taking a genuine interest in his interviewer’s life.
Emily Bright sees a journalist investigate whether a children’s entertainer lives up to his on-screen persona Setting aside time from his busy schedule, Fred greets Lloyd as if he were an old friend, and seeks to unearth his emotional trauma and help him overcome
He made a proactive choice to be kind and inclusive it. First and foremost, he sees the journalist’s value not merely as a writer, but as a human being. As Lloyd follows Fred around in his day-to-day routine, he quickly realises that the presenter’s compassionate demeanour isn’t simply a TV persona. Although Fred’s wife admits her husband is not always a saint and that he works hard to be kind, Lloyd discovers that Fred is passionate about making the world a better place by simply listening to and caring about others. Speaking after a screening of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Tom Hanks reflected that Fred Rogers
provided ‘an altruistic exchange of time and presence which he saw as a gift’. Tom explained: ‘It was a proactive choice he made to be kind and inclusive. He lived his gospel, completely unjudgmental and completely accepting.’ As the film highlights, Fred often turned to the Scriptures to sustain him and help him maintain these positive attributes. Throughout the Bible, there are many references to showing love to others. One enthusiastic presenter of Jesus’ teaching, Paul, provides a clear definition of what it means to love. He writes: ‘Love is patient, love is kind … It is not selfseeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs … It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres’ (1 Corinthians 13:4–8 New International Version). Paul adds that, although other things will pass away, one thing that will not is God’s perfect love. He offers us all the chance to be in a relationship with him, and to have our lives transformed for the better, if we open up our hearts to him. That beautiful fact is something worth broadcasting.
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s k c a p a m a r d g Gan h c n u p n a i t s i r h aC CLAIRE BRINE
t a theatre u o b a e n ri B e ir la C lls MARTIN HARRIS te il their potential lf fu le p o e p s lp e h company that
Martin Harris
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P
ICTURE the scene: New York in 1958 and a number of notorious gangs are roaming the city, fighting and killing each other. Every day on the street is dangerous. Every day brings violence. Pumped up on drugs, the troubled teens don’t care who they hurt. All they know is an existence of homelessness, addiction, prostitution and crime. Disgusted onlookers see no hope or future for such kids. Surely, any gang members caught by police deserve everything they get. But David Wilkerson, a young Pennsylvanian preacher, thinks differently. His mission is to befriend the gangs of New York and lead them to faith in Jesus Christ. He heads for the big city, armed with nothing more than his trusty Bible and a dollop of faith. What happens next is nothing short of miraculous. In his bestselling book The Cross and the Switchblade, published in 1962, David shares his real-life experiences of reaching out to the teenage gangs and helping them to find freedom from addiction through faith in God. It’s a story that the Unleashed Theatre Company in Torbay wanted to portray on stage. ‘The central message of the play is that people can change, that recovery does happen and that transformation is possible,’ says Martin Harris, the play’s director and the founder of the company. ‘It doesn’t matter how bad your life is, it can be different. That’s
INTERVIEW Unleashed Theatre Company
The cast film a fight scene which appears in the play
lot of them have come to faith. They’ve also found that performing builds their confidence.’ Back in 2014, while volunteering as a Street Pastor in Torquay, Martin was struck by the number of people experiencing homelessness that he met. Having a background in acting, he offered to run some drama workshops in the town, hoping to help people improve their self-esteem. ‘For the first six weeks, only one person came,’ he says. ‘But we kept turning up every Thursday, and now each week we get up to 30 people coming. It’s a real mixed bag of people – but together we have become a big family.’ From those sessions the Unleashed Community Drama Group The Unleashed Community Drama Group was born. Martin build their confidence through workshops explains how
Unleashed Theatre Company
the truth we want to get across.’ It is a truth experienced by many members of the play’s cast. Martin tells me that about half of them have faced problems with addiction and homelessness. ‘They’ve lived out the story,’ he says. ‘They get what it’s all about. Many of them have been on the streets, spent time in prison or struggled with drug and alcohol addictions. But they’ve got clean, and a
They get what it’s all about. Many of them have been on the streets it works alongside his other group, the Unleashed Theatre Company, which he set up many years earlier. ‘Unleashed Theatre Company was designed for churchgoers who wanted to get together and put on productions with specific Christian themes. So the first thing we did was a play of John’s Gospel. Then we did a production called The Hiding Place, which tells the story of Corrie ten Boom. She was a Christian woman who helped a number of Jews escape Nazi persecution by hiding them in her home. ‘At that point, we were just a ragtag bunch of Christian actors. But then an abbot from Buckfast Abbey commissioned us to do a play at the abbey over the summer. With a cast of about 50, we performed a show called What’s So Amazing about Grace? That was our first big-scale production.’ Unleashed Theatre Company continued
Turn to page 10
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From page 9 to grow and to perform annually at Buckfast Abbey. A few years later, the Unleashed Community Drama Group got involved. ‘I invited some of the guys who had become regulars at the workshops to join the ensemble for one of the Unleashed Theatre Company productions,’ Martin says. ‘A lot of them had managed to get clean and build a stable life for themselves. Many of them had also become Christians through their recovery programme and were attending church. Suddenly there was a crossover happening between the two groups.’ While the Unleashed Theatre Company’s aim is to perform plays that promote a clear Christian message, the Unleashed Community Drama Group has a different aim. ‘You don’t have to be a Christian to join,’ Martin says. ‘You can be atheist or agnostic. Our members range from 20 to 80 years old. Everyone is welcome. The Unleashed Community Drama Group is about helping people find selfrespect, build some confidence and strengthen social skills. But the fact that it’s run by a Christian team of volunteers is no secret.’ Over the past six years, the community drama group has gone from strength to strength. Agencies working with people
experiencing homelessness and drug addiction in Torbay have begun making referrals to the group, recognising the positive impact it is having. The group has even staged its own plays – something which Martin never envisaged when he started it. ‘We did a one-hour play called Black Comedy,’ he says. ‘We had two casts for
the play, and arranged a four-night run. The plan was that each cast member could perform for two nights. That way, if any cast member had a rough time and fell off the wagon, we had a back-up actor who could step in for them. It was a fantastic production.’ Although the Unleashed Community Drama Group and Unleashed Theatre
It’s about unleashing people into freedom from addiction
The gangs of New York fight each other in rehearsals for ‘The Cross and the Switchblade’
CLAIRE BRINE
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INTERVIEW
Company tend to focus on different projects, each year the two groups unite for a mass production. Several years ago they performed a show called Under One Roof – The Big Homeless Musical at the Princess Theatre, a 1,500-seat venue in Torquay. Last year, they joined forces once again to present songs and sketches in All the World’s a Stage. Some of the material was based on the group’s personal experiences of homelessness. ‘That’s the thing about the name “Unleashed”,’ says Martin. ‘It’s about unleashing people’s potential. It’s about unleashing people into freedom from addiction. And, of course, it’s about unleashing the Christian message of hope.’ Through its production of The Cross and the Switchblade at St Mags Church in Torquay, the company is hoping to show people that knowing Jesus can be life-changing. And it wants to convey that message through more than just the action on stage. After one of the performances, two cast members will be taking part in a Q&A, sharing with the audience how faith has helped them overcome addiction. ‘Edd, one of our leading actors in the play, used to be a drug addict and criminal before he turned his life around and became a Christian,’ explains Martin. ‘And he is now on stage playing Nicky Cruz, the hardest gang member of the lot. ‘In one particularly powerful scene, Nicky attacks David Wilkerson with a knife, saying he’s going to cut him up. But David replies: “You can cut me up and every single piece will get up and tell you that Jesus loves you.” It’s a shocking and unsettling part of the play. But later on, Nicky ends up turning to Christ and his whole life is renewed. ‘Nicky’s story shows that whatever people have been through or whatever they have done, there is a way forward. Jesus can help them turn their life around. With him, transformation is possible.’
l Unleashed Theatre Company is performing The Cross and the Switchblade from 6-8 February at St Mags Church, Torquay. For more information email unleashedtickets@gmail.com
Meet the cast
Edd
I’m playing Nicky Cruz, the leader of the Mau Maus gang. Nicky was known for being very dangerous, and I identify with his character a lot. For ten years I was a career criminal and drug addict. But then, like Nicky, I met Christ. It was sudden and significant. God had been talking to me even before I knew who he was. And eventually I started listening to him. I’ve been a Christian for ten years now.
Laura
A couple of years ago I didn’t have a home. Eventually I found somewhere to live, but the people were sexually abusive and it totally messed me up. Then one day I had a meeting with a parole officer at the centre where Martin was running the drama group. I turned up the next week. Being part of the group has been my saviour. It has helped so much with my anxiety and given me confidence. As well as attending the drama group, I’ve also started going to church. I don’t believe in the whole God thing, but as I watch the people who truly believe in God, they seem to be plugged in to this amazing energy. I would love to be able to believe like that.
Marc
For 25 years of my life I was on drugs, 18 as a heroin addict. So when I got clean, everything felt a bit much. I went to the Unleashed Community Drama Group but was too scared to get involved. Gradually I started doing a bit of acting. I found it did wonders for my confidence. The group was like a little family. In The Cross and the Switchblade, I’m playing Israel, the vice-president of the Mau Maus gang. It’s a really poignant story because it’s a bit like my old life. When I was younger, I had a knife pulled on me, and at various times in my life I’ve pulled a knife on people as well. But I’m different now. I’ve been clean for two and a half years and I’m a happy family man. Life couldn’t be better.
Nick
I used to be a drug addict, taking crack every day. Being around drug dealers was my life. But then I lost my job, ran out of money and hit rock bottom. I’ve been in rehab for eight months now and haven’t taken any drugs in all that time. Life has gotten so much better. I go to the community drama group every week. I love how you can walk into a session feeling miserable and leave two hours later feeling on top of the world. As well as attending the drama group, I’ve also started going to church. A few months ago I wouldn’t have thought that getting clean, being in a play or going to church was possible, but I wouldn’t change my life for anything now. 1 February 2020 • WAR CRY • 11
EXPLORE Prayerlink THE War Cry invites readers to send in requests for prayer, including the first names of individuals and details of their circumstances. Send your requests to Prayerlink, War Cry, 101 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BN. Mark your envelope ‘Confidential’.
Becoming a Christian There is no set formula to becoming a Christian, but many people have found saying this prayer to be a helpful first step to a relationship with God Lord Jesus Christ, I am truly sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life. Please forgive me. I now turn from everything that I know is wrong. Thank you that you died on the cross for me so that I could be forgiven and set free. Thank you that you offer me forgiveness and the gift of your Holy Spirit. Please come into my life by your Holy Spirit to be with me for ever. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen Extract from Why Jesus? by Nicky Gumbel published by Alpha International, 2011. Used by kind permission of Alpha International
Nigel Bovey gives chapter and verse on each book in the Scriptures
Ephesians
HE apostle Paul’s years in Ephesus T (in modern-day Turkey) are recorded in Acts 19. While there, he challenged the
worship of the Greek goddess Artemis. In doing so, he threatened the livelihoods of the many silversmiths who made shrines to the goddess. The city was in uproar. When Paul writes this letter to the Christians in the city, it is clear that he still has great affection for them. Perhaps remembering the city’s artisans, he describes his readers as being God’s ‘handiwork’ (2:10). He is thankful for knowing them and wants God to give them the spiritual wisdom and revelation they need to stay faithful and spread the good news of Jesus in an antagonistic society (1:15–23). Above all, he prays that God will give them the power of the Holy Spirit to withstand opposition and to grow in numbers and maturity (1:19; 3:16–20). Such power, he says, comes only through being put right with God, or ‘saved’. Salvation is based not on good works, but on a personal commitment of faith to Jesus (2:8 and 9). He reminds them that Christ’s death and resurrection has changed them. Because of
Key verse
been saved, ‘It is by grace you have ns 2:8 through faith’ (Ephesia on) New International Versi
their sin, they were once condemned to eternal death. But now, because of Jesus, they have a place with God in Heaven. Jesus is a bridge between humankind and God so they, who were once far away from God, are now close to him (chapter 2). As well as spiritual power, there is also strength in unity. He urges them to be
Paul prays that God will give them the power to withstand opposition united and sure of the tenets of their newfound faith (4:1–16). Their behaviour must inspire others to want to know Jesus. They are to be kind, compassionate and forgiving (4:32). They must not give in to the habits of their former life, such as lying, stealing, rage, sexual immorality and drunkenness. Being filled with the Holy Spirit will prevent them from falling back into their old ways and help them to ‘follow God’s example’ (4:25 to 5:20). Their spiritual relationship with God is to be reflected in their human relationships. Paul offers advice to married couples, parents, and masters and slaves (5:22 to 6:9). It is, he concludes, only by clothing themselves in spiritual armour that they will be able to stand firm in their faith and win others to Jesus (6:10–17).
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