Get your tickets now for ‘Acts of Faith,’ a one-woman play that crosses boundaries of nationality, politics, race, age and spiritual beliefs. ‘Acts of Faith’ is on stage now through Dec. 17 at American Stage.
BY J.A. JONES | Staff Writer
ST. PETERSBURG — David Yee’s funny, enigmatic one-woman play “Acts of Faith” runs now through Dec. 17 at American Stage, revealing the power of theater to cross boundaries of nationality, politics, race, age and even spiritual beliefs.
A one-woman show that follows the character of Faith from Zambia to Canada, the play is carried through the amazing performance of actress Victoria Omoregie, who flawlessly portrays the young woman recovering from a trauma she considers throughout the play. The title is a play on words, as the concept of faith is also being considered throughout the show.
When playwright David Yee was asked to describe the play, he hesitated, finally acknowledging, “It’s a play about a young girl mistaken as a prophet.” He’s also said, “It’s going to start with a joke and end with a miracle.” It does both.
Set in Faith’s “sanctuary” space, where she’s relegated to post-miracle-maybe-crime, the plot quickly reveals a true villain who, while unseen, is based on a real-life child abuser. Footnotes allude to the huge scandal surrounding British priest Father Kit Cunningham, who abused schoolchildren in his care at a school in Tanzania over several years.
Actress Victoria Omoregie flawlessly portrays the young woman recovering from a trauma she considers throughout the play.
Yee’s play examines Faith’s loss of innocence after being touched by the dark side of human behavior, examining how human faith is a tool for overcoming difficult situations, times, and events.
“It’s a play about faith in its various meanings. With faith comes redemption; with faith also comes a challenge, or a testing; with faith comes a sort of unique questioning,” Yee noted.
On another level, it could be said that it’s a play about justice, for in Yee’s play “justice” is born out in a shocking miracle.
“That’s the thing about faith. It all depends who you’ve got it in,” said the character Faith.
As someone who grew up engaged in both Buddhist and Roman Catholic traditions, Yee acknowledged that the questioning of faith within the play is rooted in the tenets of “the specifically dogmatic Roman Catholic faith.”
Yee found a way to merge his examination of faith with the stories of Cyntoia Brown and Chrystul Kizer, two young American women he’d read about.
Yee noted, “I was also reading about and thinking about the stories of Cyntoia Brown and Chrystul Kizer, who were both young Black women who killed their abusers — both at the age of 16 — and were in the midst of being granted clemency or acquitted for their crimes. So that sort of provided a general thesis or frame for what I wanted to tackle.”
Acknowledging that regionally and nationally, the cultural impact of religion — and conversations about it — vary greatly, Yee noted that he wants audiences to come in with an open mind. While the play isn’t set in America, he hopes audiences can experience the idea of faith devoid of specific cultural or political references.
“I think we can learn the most about who we are, by listening to people who aren’t who we are. I think for me, the vital message of this play has always been that there is a power to belief — and that we’re accountable for our actions as a result of those beliefs.”
This funny, heartbreaking, but ultimately empowering play about healing is a wonderful way to celebrate the human trait of overcoming shared across nations, religions, and centuries.
“Acts of Faith” by David Yee, directed by Patrick Arthur Jackson, plays American Stage’s Raymond James Theater, 163 3rd St. N, St. Petersburg, through Dec. 17. Click here for tickets and more information.
