Finding a creative way to approach what can be difficult subjects, BYU–Hawaii International Cultural Studies and Communications Professor Daniel Stout said several years ago he wrote a reader’s theater play on the topics of integrity, censorship and religion.
“The play confronts dilemmas of all religions such as whether it’s ethical to conceal information to protect an institution’s image, or whether stories have to be literal to inspire,” says Stout.
Called the “Ghosts of Galileo,” the play is “the story of Russell McBride, whose doctoral dissertation is failed for claiming that stories of the school’s founder, Anthony Comstock, were fabricated a century ago,” says information about the play.
Through out the play, each character is forced to confront what the meaning of truth is to them and what they are willing to do once they know the truth. After having students read the play in his classes as a means to open discussion on the topics and also working with BYU in Provo theater professors to refine the play, at the end of Winter Semester 2015, Stout premiered the reader’s theater project as a staged play on campus.
There were three performances of the play on April 10 and 11 in BYUH’s Little Theater with senior Cameron Abaroa directing a cast of student actors.
“We had an awesome cast, the majority of which had not done much live theatre before this,” said Abaroa. “But they were a talented and hard-working group of people who helped bring this vision and this message to life.”
Austen Thompson, a junior in ICS from California, played the lead role of Russell McBride. Thompson remarks on his part, “I had a great experience throughout the process. I couldn’t have worked with better people. The character was very fun. It was like playing a crazier version of myself. The more I worked on it, the more depth I saw in the script. Great writing and a great message.”
The play is “set on the nondenominational Christian campus of Comstock University in New York, 2012,” says play information. McBride concluded the stories about the founder are more like poetry, rather than actual events.
“He’s offered a low-level instructorship in exchange for his silence,” it continues. “Eventually he sues to get his doctorate as censorship’s moral dimensions are debated, particularly in a courtroom drama in Act Two. Characters in the play take divergent positions on these questions; much is at stake for all.
"For Russ it’s his future as an academic. For Professors George Fackler and Barbara McPhee, reputations will be destroyed if their books and films about Anthony Comstock are rendered inaccurate and thus no longer relevant. If Russ’s dissertation chair Ivan Sellars defends him too vigorously, he may not get tenure.”
Stout said, “It is not a didactic play. Each character represents different moral perspectives from the utilitarian, ‘It’s for the greater good,’ to the categorical imperative, ‘It’s never moral to lie.”
There is a surreal dimension of the play. “Historical victims of Anthony Comstock’s censorship efforts such as Walt Whitman, Ida Craddock, and D.M. Bennett visit Russ urging him to battle for free expression. [The audience is] unsure whether they’re ghosts sent by the scientist Galileo, who was also censored, or figments of an imagination clouded by abuse of prescription drugs and his own ambitions.”
Abaroa says the play asks: “What is the relationship between truth and story? From there... what do we do? … Are the ghosts real or are they a figment of Russell's tortured mind?”
He said the message of “Ghosts of Galileo” is an important one. “We, as members of this community and Church, come under an extraordinary amount of scrutiny, and some of the lesser-known pieces of LDS history can drive strong members of the Church to lose their faith, while the play teaches us that faith and truth can be both independent and interdependent.”
For example, he said things like the Mountain Meadow’s Massacre and Joseph Smith having plural wives. The Church provides information about these topics and more on lds.org, Abaroa said, but “at the end of the day, faith is a choice that we all can make.”
Abaroa added, “The play is also a glaring critique of those who use their power to belittle or censor the truth when it challenges their power” – represented by the characters George and Barbara.
Carina Aldrich, who graduated in April in political science and is from Laie, said she stepped in last minute to play the role of Claudia McBride. Aldrich said even though it was stressful, she thoroughly enjoyed the experience. “I feel like I really gained a lot out of it. I was excited for the play even before I got cast because I’ve spent basically my entire life in academia. This play really spoke to things I’m familiar with.”
When conceptualizing how to stage the play, Abaroa said he wrote a school song or hymn to use as a scene-changing device. “I realized that we needed some between-scene ‘fillers’ to help facilitate costume and set changes. To that affect, I had the idea of writing this song as a continuing motif - that we then could utilize throughout the play.”
Abaroa continued: "The song is based on traditional alma maters, but I emphasized even more traditional chord structures and framed the piece as if it was a hymn. It is a religious university after all,” he said speaking about the college in the play.
“Many of the lyrics actually came from the play itself. Most importantly the line ‘Comstock University is a place where faith and reason meet’,” which Abaroa said is spoken by one of the characters in Act 2. “If you notice the theme gets repeated three times: the opening of the play, the transition into the court scene, and the ending. Because music can help drive home a point or emotion, I chose the emotional centers of the show, with the court song … and Russell’s sad repetition of the song at the end of the play.”
As the play progresses, the motivations behind each of the character’s actions are explored through plot twists and turns. At the end of the play, it’s unclear exactly who will ultimately act with integrity and who will not.
However, pondering the struggle of what to do in difficult situations is the intent of the play and this performance of “Ghosts of Galileo” succeeded in doing that along with being entertaining.
The cast included:
- Austen Thompson as Russell McBride
- Christopher Cornelison as Peter Bradford
- Alyssa Walhood as Kay Kendell
- Daniel Maliconico as George Fackler
- Gabriell Sabalones as Barbara McPhee
- Randal Allred as Anthony Comstock
- Cameron Abaroa as Ivan Sellars
- Libby Templeton as Christina Martinez, Patty Sellars, Ada Craddock and Judge
- Zack Cusworth as Walt Whitman and Tim Johnson
- Carina Aldrich as Claudia McBride
- Kason Martinez as Nelson Jerome and D.M. Bennet