“Sins of the Father,” a new play, will make its debut in a staged reading this upcoming Friday, Feb. 13 on the Umble Center stage. Written, produced and directed by Kate Bodiker, a senior writing and communication major, the play is a “historic reimagining of the biblical story of Cain and Abel.”
“Sins of the Father” came to be in the fall of Bodiker’s junior year, when she took a playwriting class, where the class activity entailed bringing a photo to class. Bodiker brought a photo of the oldest English-speaking church in the world, St. Martin’s Church in Canterbury, that she had visited while in London with Goshen College. This picture ignited the imagery that “first took my little pencil to paper,” Bodiker said.Despite the show being set to take stage later this week, Bodiker never predicted her writing would be performed. “It was just like a whatever little story, and it was just going to help me improve my writing,” she said. However, Bodiker found herself repeatedly returning to “Sins of the Father,” and though she had forgotten a lot of the material she wrote in the class, she felt that this piece stuck with her.
John Eash-Scott, a first-year communication major and theater minor, is set to play Levi, the main character. Eash-Scott became interested in the play as he was auditioning for “Poor Clare,” the spring mainstage performance, when he was offered the opportunity to audition for “Sins of the Father.” Eash-Scott felt that this play was a good fit for him because of the questions the story poses. “I like it when characters have big existential crises,” he said. Eash-Scott is looking forward to his debut as Levi, and feels that the whole process for Sins of the Father has been collaborative and fast-paced.
“Sins of the Father” will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Umble on Friday and will run about 90 minutes with a brief intermission. Following the performance Bodiker will be joined by the cast for a Q&A, and will sell pre-orders of the book in the Umble lobby.
