Ted & Company TheaterWorks and the Center for Justice & Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University will present “I’d Like to Buy an Enemy,” 7:30 p.m. Monday, Mar. 22 in Lehman Auditorium at EMU.
Ted Swartz (l.) and Trent Wagler in a scene from Ted & Company TheaterWorks’ original play, “I’d Like to Buy An Enemy.”
The play, starring Ted Swartz, Trent Wagler and Peter Nelson with original music by Wagler, is both hilarious and poignant. It allows us to laugh at ourselves while raising important questions about the place of the U.S. in the world, why fear is such a large part of our culture and asks the question: How can we honestly work for peace and justice in this country … and just maybe in the world?
Sketches include: “I’d Like to Buy an Enemy,” “Why Can’t I Get My Money Back?”, “The Reptilian Brain Speaks: We’re late! We’re late … are we late?” and “You Started it! – a treatise on the cycles of violence.”
CJP representatives will lead a discussion after the play.
Ted Swartz lives in Harrisonburg when he’s not on the road presenting workshops, sermons, solo shows or performing with the variety of actors that make up Ted & Company TheaterWorks. Perhaps most well-known for finding the humor and humanity in biblical stories (“Fish-Eyes,” “Creation Chronicles” and “DoveTale”), created with Lee Eshleman during their 20-year partnership, Swartz has recently begun creating plays about peace and justice (“I’d Like to Buy an Enemy”), the meaning of church and faith (“What Would Lloyd Do?”) and acting with Ingrid De Sanctis, Trent Wagler, Jeff Raught and others.
Trent Wagler is a freelance actor and musician from Harrisonburg. He has recorded four full-length albums and toured across the country with his band, The Steel Wheels and in duo performances with Jay Lapp. Wagler has played the role of Gabriel in Ted & Lee’s “DoveTale” show and worked with Swartz to create “What Would Lloyd Do?” and “I’d Like to Buy an Enemy.”
Pete Nelson is a 2008 graduate of Eastern Mennonite University.
Tickets are available at the door only (no advance tickets will be sold) for $12/adults; $6/students. Call 540-574-4877 for more information.