God has a role in “The Busy World is Hushed.”
She is central to much of Keith Bunin’s drama about family, faith and love. Invisible Theatre opens the play Oct. 30. Here’s a look:
The story: Hannah is a widowed Episcopalian minister who has hired a ghostwriter to help her with a book about a newly discovered gospel which predates the other four.
She and the young writer have intense conversations about God. Those are interrupted when Hannah’s wayward son shows up. There’s a spark between the two men. It’s a spark Hannah fans.
The director: While religion is a major theme, that’s not what drew director Nancy Davis Booth to the play.
It was, she says, “the three different relationships that were just so intertwined and so beautifully written.”
She has no intention of making the play dogmatic.
“I don’t want any preaching, I don’t want any ‘this is how the audience needs to believe.’ I just want it to be these three people grappling with life’s biggest conflicts.”
The themes: While homosexuality and the Christian church are often at odds, Booth says that is not the main point of contention in the play. Hannah never had an issue with her son’s sexuality or with his instant connection with her ghostwriter. Rather, says Booth, she “encourages the relationship because she thinks if her son becomes more involved maybe he will settle down.”
The play leaves behind the overdone narrative of ashamed homosexuals in the church. “The thing that’s separating her from her son is the dogma of the church and the belief that she has to have God in order to love him,” says Booth.
The takeaway for audiences: “I think the main takeaway is for each person to figure out the place of God in their own lives and through that can learn to be tolerant and to love one another despite what they think,” says Booth.
Ultimately, she wants the audience to see how relatable the characters are.
“I hope that they will love the characters and that they will see themselves and their loved ones in these characters, and that it gives them a glimpse into how they can become more tolerant with one another.”
