SURVIVING CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN AMERICA: THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF BEARING WITNESS
Tuesday, January 21, at 7:00 pm
Mainstage Theater, Kleist Center for Art & Drama
95 E. Bagley Road, Berea

Anthony Ray Hinton survived for 30 years on Alabama's death row for crimes he did not commit. Hinton was convicted of the unsolved murders of two fast-food restaurant managers based on the testimony of ballistics experts for the State who claimed that the crime bullets came from a dusty revolver found in Hinton's mother's closet. Without the benefit of a competent expert to challenge the State's theory, an all-white jury convicted Hinton, and he was sentenced to death. In 2015, Hinton was freed after more than a decade of litigation led by attorney Bryan Stevenson, executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI).

In 2018, Hinton published "The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row," which was selected for Oprah's Book Club and is a New York Times bestseller.

Hinton will be joined by Kuntrell Jackson, who was tried as an adult and sentenced to die in prison for an offense at the age of 14. In 2012, the United States Supreme Court issued a historic ruling in Jackson's case, Jackson v. Hobbs, holding that mandatory death in prison sentences for all children 17 or younger are unconstitutional. Jackson, also represented by EJI, was re-sentenced and released in 2017.

Together, Hinton and Jackson, in a discussion moderated by Adam Murphy, staff attorney at the Equal Justice Initiative, will share their experiences and what must be done to reform a system that too often strips people – even children – of their humanity.

Following the presentation, Hinton will sign copies of "The Sun Does Shine: How I found Life and Freedom on Death Row," which will be available for purchase.

PAINTING VINCENT
Written & Directed by Shane Thatcher
Thursday-Saturday, January 30-February 1, at 7:30 pm
MACS Acting Studio, Room 177
Math & Computer Science Building
139 Tressel Street, Berea
 
“It is essential to see [his life] because then one understands it better,” according to Theo van Gogh regarding his brother's art. The two brothers had made an oath to stand by each other, but that oath and their relationship comes under strain as Vincent continues down his path as an artist. How will poverty, illness, and existentialism influence Vincent’s paintings? And what do the history books get wrong?

2019 FAITH & LIFE LECTURE SERIES PRESENTS: ILIA DELIO (February 20-21)

The response has been overwhelming, and we are now at full capacity. Although it is no longer possible to get a ticket, we have started a waiting list.

Please email Carrie Drozdz at cdrozdz@bw.edu, and we will let you know if space becomes available.

Thursday, February 20 at 7:30 p.m.
"Deep Relationality and a New Religion of the Earth"
Lindsay-Crossman Chapel
56 Seminary St., Berea

Friday, February 21 at 10:00 a.m.
"Evolution and the Dynamism of God"
Lindsay-Crossman Chapel
56 Seminary St., Berea

Friday, February 21 at 2:00 p.m.
A panel discussion, "The Emerging Posthuman: What Are We Becoming?"
Strosacker Hall, Sandstone 3
120 E. Grand St., Berea

"Christianity in a world of evolution: Exploring the Upside-Down God"  Christianity was a radical breakthrough in religious consciousness in the early Church but lost its power with the rise of modernity. Science has reawakened a new understanding of the Christian God through thinkers like Alfred North Whitehead and Teilhard de Chardin. We will explore their ideas on a relational God in a world of change and the significance of an upside down God. In particular we will focus on the life of Jesus as boundary-crosser and Christian life today as creating new wholes.

Pelléas + Mélisande 
by Claude Debussy and Maurice Maeterlinck
Directed by Scott Skiba
Conducted by Domenico Boyagian
Scenic & Costume Design by Tesia Benson
Lighting Design by David Stoughton
Friday and Saturday, February 28-29, at 7:30 pm and Sunday, March 1, at 2:00 pm
Black Box Theatre, Kleist Center for Art & Drama
95 E. Bagley Road, Berea

BW Opera, winner of first and second place in the 2017 and 2018 National Opera Association collegiate opera competition, presents a new, abridged, English-language adaptation of Claude Debussy and Maurice Maeterlinck’s Symbolist opera, Pelléas et Mélisande. 

THE BURIAL AT THEBES
An adaptation of Sophocles’ Antigone by Seamus Heaney
Wednesday-Saturday, March 25-28, at 7:30 pm

Burial at Thebes by Seamus Haney is a re-telling of the story/myth of Antigone. Caught between divine principles and human laws Antigone must face doing what she believes is right and suffers the ultimate consequence. Everyone in her family circle is effected by her choices as she defies the orders of her uncle the King. Burial at Thebes presents a dysfunctional family in crisis and the aftermath that comes with pride, gender inequality and the threat of tyranny.

DRACULA
By Stephen Dietz
Directed by Scott Plate
Wednesday-Saturday, April 22-25, at 7:30 pm, and Sunday, April 26, at 2:00 pm
Mainstage Theatre, Kleist Center for Art & Drama
95 E. Bagley Road, Berea

A provocative adaptation by American playwright Steven Dietz restores the suspense and seduction of Bram Stoker's classic novel to the stage. As Count Dracula begins to exert his will upon the residents of London, they try to piece together the clues of his appearances—in a valiant attempt to save themselves from a hideous fate. Rich with humor and horror, this play paints a wickedly theatrical picture of Stoker's famous vampire.