Theater as Liturgy in the Post-Christian Age

This is the first book-length study of one of the most talented and exciting American playwrights working today. Stephen Adly Guirgis has said that "God is the starting point and the finish line" of his work, and this book identifies Guirgis as a playwright with a distinctly Christian sensibility who uses the technique of "inculturation" to translate the gospel for a secular audience. Critics have noted that his plays are peopled with poor, suffering minority figures, but few have also noted that these figures bear a remarkable similarity to the dispossessed with whom Jesus identifies in Matthew 25. Beginning with his early play Den of Thieves and proceeding through each of his successive dramas, this work examines Guirgis's plays within a biblical context. While noting that Guirgis is a writer of the "post-Christian age" who staunchly resists identification as a "Christian playwright," the book situates Guirgis within the tradition of the "drama of ideas" as a keen and powerful writer employing a dialectical method to inculcate the New Testament ethos and transform the theater space into a place of sacrament.

Matthew Yde holds a PhD in theatre history, literature, and criticism from The Ohio State University. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.