Even with all of the beautiful lights strewn about town, the holiday season can occasionally leave you experiencing moments of darkness. In their show Longing for the Light, all for One productions seek to offer a beacon of hope in a potentially bleak season. 

“In the midst of that pressure, in the middle of the messiness of life, in spite of bad news out there, come away and spend some time with the Good News,” all for One says in a description of the show on their website. 

“If you are Longing for the Light, let all for One productions, in partnership with First Missionary Church, set a new tone for your Advent and Christmas season with music, spoken word poetry, and short dramas which help us to lean into the source of all Light, the One whose birth we celebrate.” 

The two-night production will be held Friday-Saturday, Dec. 1-2, at First Missionary Church on Rudisill Boulevard.

Story of Christmas

So, what exactly does it mean to “long for the light”?

“Because it’s early in the Christmas season, I wanted this show to function as kind of an Advent piece that helps people prepare for Christmas,” said Lauren Nichols, afO’s artistic director. 

Advent is a time before Christmas when Christians observe a season of spiritual preparation in remembrance of the birth of Christ and in anticipation of His Second Coming. 

“This show tells the familiar Christmas story in some fresh contexts,” Nichols said. “I think, as Christian storytellers, a lot of what we’re doing is helping people to remember and to refresh the things that they have begun to take for granted.”

For those who may not be familiar with the Christmas story, Oxford University Press offers a brief synopsis: “In the familiar version of the Christmas story, Mary and Joseph travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Because there was no room in the inn (at Bethlehem), the baby Jesus (the Son of God) is born in a stable and placed in a manger. His humble birth is celebrated by choirs of angels and shepherds, and he is given precious gifts by the mysterious Magi (“Three Wise Men”).

“We wanted to do a Christmas piece that really celebrated the true meaning of Christmas,” said Stacey Kuster, executive director of the nonprofit afO that emphasizes producing “inspiring theatrical experiences.” “This is a piece that I think will work very well in a church setting.

“We’re fortunate to have a really good relationship with First Missionary Church, and they’re working with us to pilot this idea at their church,” she added. “The idea is that this is something that we would be able to take to different local churches every year as a way that we can serve their congregation and serve the community.”

Show Structure

The show will occur in a format that is a bit different than recent afO shows, since audience members are invited to participate. 

“It’s a lot of very short pieces that flow one into the other,” Nichols said. “There will be some opportunities for the audience to sing Christmas carols. There will be some very poignant moments, some very beautiful moments, and I think especially the interpretive dance element is going to be gorgeous. And there will definitely be some humor throughout.”

Though this show is different from recent afO productions, it hearkens back to the earlier days of the organization’s history. 

“This show is kind of a throwback to all for One’s early days as a touring rep company,” Nichols said. “I created (the show) in the sense that I conceived of it, but I did not write a majority of it. 

“The content of the show comes from several places: Scripture readings with musical underscores that I created; poetry, some of which I wrote, but most of which I did not; and a comedic sketch that we found many years ago. There will also be original material written by Michael Wilhelm.” 

Restructuring

If you’ve been wondering where afO’s shows were this summer, you were not alone. 

“We closed our last season in April and then went on a production sabbatical,” Kuster said. “We want to focus more on how we can, as a Christian organization in the arts, support churches and support Christian artists. What can we do to help foster creativity within the faith community? And so we want to have time to be able to focus on that.”

Kuster said afO is looking for ways to achieve this mission by looking outside of regular stage productions. 

“We’ve been talking about putting together workshops and getting small groups of actors together just to read plays together to enhance their abilities to do readings,” she said. “We also want to do improv workshops to develop Christian actors in an improv setting.”

Familiarity

If Wilhelm’s name sounds familiar to you, it should. He has worked with afO for many years in several capacities. His initial involvement was as an actor, making his debut in I Remember Mama. Now, he can also be found writing original scripts for afO plays and podcasts. 

Along with Wilhelm, audiences can expect to more familiar faces returning to the stage in Longing for the Light. 

Nichols explains that, with the tight rehearsal schedule for this show, it was of utmost importance to select a cast she knew well. 

“It was basically a hand-picked group because I knew exactly what I wanted,” she said. “I knew we needed to be able to do it in a short amount of rehearsal time. So, I approached people, most of whom had worked with us before, to be in this show.”

The variety of content in this show requires an equally varied cast of people to deliver it. 

“We’ve got two vocal soloists in the cast and a dancer,” Nichols said. “I feel like we’ve got more resources to bring to this kind of piece and it was nice to be able to revisit this kind of program because it’s something we haven’t done in, probably, the last 20 years.”

Family affair

Like most afO shows, Longing for the Light is perfect for the whole family, especially those with younger children. 

“It’s family-friendly and it’s a short evening, only running about 75 minutes,” Nichols said. 

“If you’re looking for something bright and something hopeful, this show is for you,” she said. “We need the light, and the culmination of the light is Jesus coming to Earth and that’s what this production points to.”