Play Traces Teens' Faith

May 18, 2007

Author: AMY WHITESALL

Source: Ann Arbor News

http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-22/117949945598070.xml&coll=2

An exasperated Catholic teen feels compelled to answer for things Mel Gibson said. Four other teens of four different faiths find themselves discussing religion in math class. These are just two examples of the role faith identity plays in teenagers' lives, and it's a bigger one than many people realize, says Jeffrey Steiger of the University of Michigan's Center for Research on Learning and Teaching.

Steiger has been listening to teens' stories about faith for nearly a year and has compiled them into a 45-minute play that will be presented Sunday and Monday.

The production is a composite of the stories told by more than 100 students who, through the Interfaith Round Table of Washtenaw County, shared their experiences of faith intersecting with everyday life. A community dialogue follows the play, which will be presented at the Neutral Zone on Sunday and at Temple Beth Emeth-St. Clare's Episcopal Church on Monday.

Steiger, a director and playwright, created the script after talking to - and sitting in on group sessions with - more than 100 high school students of the Bahai, Buddhist, Catholic, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Quaker, Scientologist and Unitarian Universalist faiths. Steiger said he was struck by the students' genuineness and the degree to which faith works in their lives.