This is a season of discovery and with each discovery comes a new opportunity for King David Godwin. For his new play, The Amen Corner, opening Tuesday, he expects the audience to leave feeling they have learned or revisited some ideal about the human spirit they may have forgotten.
“I chose this production because of the many diverse yet parallel meanings about life, relationships, and the aspects of moral vs. ethical reasoning that exist in the work,” said Godwin, who was appointed interim dean of College of Arts and Sciences in July.
In this story, written by James Baldwin in 1955, sees a mother who wants to ensure her son is raised in a wholesome environment and desires to save him from the “evils of the world.”
The main character, played by Ashley Boston, is Sister Margaret, uncompromising pastor of her Harlem church and has a congregation already in revolt against her hardline leadership. Their resentment escalates with the return of her absentee husband, a trombone-playing sinner, and the wayward conduct of her son. Charges of hypocrisy hang in the air and Margaret’s devout world looks perilously close to falling apart. Godwin says the storyline is nothing new, but thinks there is much to be learned from it’s content.
“As parents sometimes, our efforts to save our children can create situations that may hammer spiritual and social growth,” Godwin said.
“I think the plot of the story also hinges on parental honesty.”
One of the important themes Godwin will formulate in The Amen Corner, is no matter the distance or circumstances, family is family and in the end, physical and emotional bond will always supersede any circumstance. Godwin says the cast will do an outstanding job portraying family pain on stage.
“I’ve been blessed to have an award winning troupe in the past and I see no difference now,” he said. These young people are the fruits of the future. Every student in the cast with one exception is a major and that exception is a theatre minor. Of that, I am most proud.”
Showtimes for The Amen Corner will start at 7 p.m. Sept. 24-27 at the Floyd L. Sandle Theatre in the Performing Arts Center.