News • March 02, 2018

“The Beams are Creaking” brings Dietrich Bonhoeffer to life on stage at CBU

Riverside, Calif. (March 2, 2018) – The theatre program at California Baptist University brings the alluring story of the late German pastor, theologian and Allied spy Dietrich Bonhoeffer to the Wallace Theatre on March 2 with “The Beams Are Creaking.”  

The theatre production takes audiences back to the ‘30s and ‘40s where Bonhoeffer, while heading the Confessing Church denomination, formed a resistance to the Nazi establishment. As the play develops, it depicts Bonhoeffer involvement in assassination attempts on Adolf Hitler.

Frank Mihelich, associate professor of theatre and the play’s director, said he sees Bonhoeffer as a combination of the Rev. Billy Graham and Martin Luther King Jr.

“Bonhoeffer was tremendously evangelical, but also tied into social justice,” Mihelich said.

Caleb Leal, a theatre junior, plays Bonhoeffer.

“I respect Bonhoeffer as a Christian and a man,” Leal said. “He was a humble follower of Christ who didn’t let adversity stop him from doing what’s right. 

Emily Feaster, a theatre junior, plays Bonhoeffer’s mother. She said depicting the real-life story has been a growing experience.

“These people we are portraying were so influential and their response in the midst of the unimaginable dangers is something we can still admire and learn from,” Feaster said. “I hope this play raises questions in the minds of the audience regarding faith and what living out one’s faith should look like.”

Mihelich said with this faith-based play, he hopes students will begin to understand how they can incorporate faith into a theatre production. 

“I hope the students are constantly trying to figure out how to work their faith into not just their life but their art,” Mihelich said.

Mihelich also wants the play to encourage reflective conversation on faith for the play’s attendees.

“I want the audiences to talk about the Christian faith in a way that no matter what you believe, you feel like you belong in the conversation,” Mihelich said. “I would love if the lobby was filled with conversations about the gospel where Christians can be open about their faith and non-Christians can be open about their non-faith and nobody is wanting to run.”

“The Beams Are Creaking”

When: March 2-3, March 8-10 at 7:30 p.m.; March 3, March 10 at 2 p.m.

Where: Wallace Theatre, California Baptist University, 8432 Magnolia Ave., Riverside, CA, 92504

Tickets: General admission $15, CBU Faculty and Staff $12, CBU students $10

Tickets or questions? Call the theatre box office at 951- 343-4319 or email: mhyde@calbaptist.edu

 

Contact CBU Marketing and Communication

Vice President for Marketing and Communication:
Angela Meluski
Email: ameluski@calbaptist.edu

8432 Magnolia Avenue
Riverside, CA 92504