Jackson Playwright John Maxwell's "An Easter Tale" received a standing ovation Thursday night at Wells Methodist Church on Bailey Avenue in Jackson.
The play is about Jesus' disciples discussing their situation immediately following the crucifixion. The disciples are confused, worried and distraught as they try to make sense of it all.
The one-act play is set in the upper room after the crucifixion.
Director Cliff Bowen describes the play:
" The disciples are presented not as icons, but as individuals grappling with fear, anger, guilt, ego, and the collapse of certainty. Their arguments, memories, and conversations reveal a deeper question at the heart of the play: not simply what happened, but what it means to believe when belief no longer aligns with expectation. The confined setting underscores both physical danger and emotional claustrophobia, forcing each character into confrontation with themselves and one another. By the time hope re-enters the room, it does so not as triumph, but as a challenge to trust love—Even when you feel it has failed you. Even when you feel you have failed it. Trust Love."
The cast includes many Northsiders:
Peter – Ward Emling
John – Erick Julian Weeks
Andrew – Clay Rouse
Mary – Grace Reeves
Thomas – Adam Kilgore
Matthew – Bob Crisler
James – Matthew Bishop
Judas – Mac Mitchell
Kristine Callahan – Assistant Director
Diane Rouse – Costume Director, Props
The play has been performed at several local churches. There is a Friday April 3 6:30 p.m. performance at Parkway Hills United Methodist on the Highland Parkway in Madison; Saturday, April 4, 4 p.m. at Galloway Methodist Church in Jackson; Sunday April 12 10:30 a.m. at St Luke's United Methodist Church in Jackson's Fondren area.
