The unique dramatic production you are
about to witness originated some 50 years ago and was performed over 1200 times throughout
America and Europe. Both then and now it is presented for one purpose: that we may learn
and wonder before the Glory of God.
The imagery and poetry of the original language of the text are best retained in the
classic King James Version, which is spoken tonight. To voice the message, man’s
oldest dramatic device is used, the speaking chorus of ancient Greece. Not only do the
players portray Job and his friends, they also work together as a chorus, propelling and
reflecting upon the action, thought and dialogue.
The book of Job is poetry and theological argument. This is not a play, therefore, in the
usual sense, but a dramatic orchestration of the inspired message.
Visual inspiration for the production came from the mosaics of the churches of Byzantium.
Those early Christians, over 1,500 years ago, were the first to try to picture out the
life of Bible characters. Since the common person could not read, stories were told on the
walls of their churches. But painting was too ordinary a medium for their sacred message.
So they chose jewels, bits of glass and colored stones, and worked them into designs and
placed them in the plaster of the walls, forming the Byzantine mosaics.
Our players do the same thing for “Job.” Gleaming in jewel-like garments, they
make moving mosaics, forming, dissolving and reforming hundreds of visions of glass. It is
as if one of the oldest churches of Europe has stirred into life, telling us its story.
And as the players create these living mosaics, they speak the message, not only as a
play, but also as an act of worship.
The story itself is simple. Most of us know how God allowed Satan to test Job’s faith
by destroying all he had, even his health. Job’s friends come to comfort him, but
stay to torture him with accusation that his suffering is divine punishment for his secret
sin. Although Job argues that this is not true, he little understands the purpose of his
grief. He begins to ask the questions we all share in suffering:
Where is God?
Why do the innocent suffer?
If God is good, why is there so much evil on earth?
What is man?
Where is he going?
Job is human; we all are human. The questions have not changed. The debate rages between
Job and his friends; God is silent. But when Job’s mind staggers, his faith marches
forward to see God. Finally, out of the voice of the storm, God answers Job, and all
mankind.
This is an occasion of worship, through a sacred drama. God is far too vast for our finite
understanding. But, like Job, we may adore that which soars above our small experience. If
the players remind us of such glory, if they sing of our faith, if they stir our hope,
then the purpose of this play will have been fulfilled. The Word of God, through the Book
of Job, will live anew in our lives.
Watch then. Listen. Learn. Wonder and Worship.
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