Alan Atwood will present "The Heart of God"
The story of the Bible - God's relationship with people
Written by Alan Atwood

The Heart of God is revealed as He creates people, falls in love with them, loses them and then must come to earth Himself to pay the penalty for their sins. A dramatic "walk through the bible", the play draws the audience into a deep experience of God's great desire to be known by the people He's created.

Alan Atwood
     Alan is a child of God. He was redeemed into fellowship with Him by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. He has made a life-long commitment to put on the fullness of Christ, so that he can honor the God he loves and help other people come into a relationship with Him.
     In 1974, just after starting college, God gave Alan a vision to use the art of theatre to the glory of God.
     Mr Atwood received a BFA in Theatre from UW-Milwaukee and then went on to the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco to complete his training.
     He was a co-founder of Acacia Theatre Company, a Christian Theatre Company in Milwaukee, WI. He served as the Artistic Director of Acacia for nine years.
     He currently serves as Pastor of Drama at Eastbrook Church. Eastbrook is a sister church to Elmbrook Church which was started and pastored for many years by Jill and Stuart Briscoe.
     At Eastbrook, Alan writes and produces full-length plays for the community as well as shorter dramas for worship services. He has authored a book of sketches for worship that he makes available to churches. He also tours several one-man plays around the country to churches, conferences, Christian schools and camps.
     Mr. Atwood has four children ranging in age from twenty to eleven and has been married to his wife Mary Ellen for twenty-six years. He lives with his family in Brookfield, WI, a suburb of Milwaukee.

Movie Screening and Key Note Address by KEN WALES
    During his 15 year association with director Blake Edwards, Ken produced many films including The Tamarind Seed & Wild Rovers and associate/line-produced numerous films including Darling Lili, starring Julie Andrews and Rock Hudson; The Great Race, with Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis, and The Party, and Revenge of the Pink Panther, both starring Peter Sellers. In TV, Wales co-produced the Emmy and Golden Globe winner, John Steinbeck's East of Eden, associate-produced the first season of Cagney and Lacy, and was executive producer on Christy. Currently, Ken is producing the upcoming feature, Amazing Grace, The Story of William Wilberforce, the great Christian reformer that changed the world - directed by Michael Apted and starring Ioan Gruffudd and Albert Finney. He is also developing the sequel to Chariots of Fire.

COLIN HARBINSON
     Colin Harbinson was born in London, England, and has been involved in many varied aspects of the arts and education for 40 years. Colin created the internationally acclaimed production Toymaker & Son that has been performed in over 60 countries. Dayuma, another of his internationally performed productions, made a successful theatre tour across the United States.
     Recognized internationally as a pioneer and leader in his field, Colin’s work as a writer, director and producer has won numerous awards, including the prestigious Golden Halo Award from the Motion Picture Council.
     Colin received his education at Sussex University, Brighton, England, and was awarded the Associate of the Drama Board of Great Britian in 1995, was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree for lifetime achievement in the arts. He was the International Dean of the College of the Arts at the University of the Nations (1994-1999).
     Colin is the Founder and President of the International Festival of the Arts. This organization pioneered Sacred Fire, the first East-West arts festival, in Russia, and organized the Love Without Borders festival in Bulgaria. The more recent Ode To Joy festival in China involved over 700 artists from 21 countries—the largest arts festival of its kind in the history of that nation.
      Colin Harbinson is a sought after teacher and conference speaker, has lectured in over 40 countries, and is editor of Creative Spirit—a journal on the arts and faith. He is currently Dean of the Arts at Belhaven College in Jackson, Mississippi, where he resides with his wife Maureen.

CALVIN SEERVELD
     Calvin Seerveld is a native New Yorker, born in the village of West Sayville on the Southside of Long Island, 1930.  After studying at Calvin College (B.A.) and University of Michigan (M.A.) in philosophy, English literature, and classics, he spent five years in Europe, 1953-58, beginning as a U.S. Fulbright student.  He studied with Oscar Cullmann, Karl Barth, Karl Jaspers, and Carlo Antoni in Switzerland and Italy, and received his Ph.D. in Philosophy and Comparative Literature from the Free University of Amsterdam under the mentorship of D.H.Th. Vollenhoven.
     Seerveld has taught at Belhaven College, Jackson, Mississippi, and was one of the original faculty at Trinity Christian College in Chicago, and specialized in Philosophical Aesthetics at the graduate Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto where he taught 1972-1995.
His Publications include Rainbows for the Fallen World (1980/reprinted 2005), a translation of the Older Testament Song of Songs for a choral spoken oratorio presentation,The Greatest Song (rev.ed., 1988), A Christian Critique of Art and Literature (2nd ed. 1995), Bearing Fresh Olive Leaves (2000), In the Fields of the Lord, A Seerveld Reader, edited by Craig Bartholomew (2000), How to read the Bible to hear God Speak (2003), and Voicing God's Psalms with audio CD (Eerdmans, 2005).
     Seerveld has spoken in many venues, once for CITA (Chicago 1996), even though his acting experience has been limited to playing Prince Charming in a sixth grade school production of Cinderella (1942).  He is husband to multilingual Dutch woman Ines Cecile Naudin ten Cate, whom he met in an Austrian snowdrift.  Their children are a massage therapist in Toronto, a hospital chaplain in Thunder Bay, and a cinema electrician, script writer and independent producer in the San Francisco area.  God has given him a good life

The Book of Job, presented by Master Arts Theatre of Grand Rapids, celebrates the 50^th anniversary of the internationally acclaimed production adapted by Orlin Corey and designed by Irene Corey.  (Their production toured the States and Europe during the late 1950’s through the 1970’s.)  Byzantine Mosaics come to life as a cast of five men and five women give voice to selections from the King James text.  Just as the mosaics told the stories of the Bible through fragments of tile, cut stones and glass, the Scripture is orchestrated to tell the story of the struggle and faith of Job, revealing the very nature of God.  The one-hour presentation is designed to combine the power of the message with the beauty of this ancient art form.

The cast, directed by Pris McDonald, consists of community members of the West Michigan area as follows:

“Job”               Kevin Rigg, Director of “Up and Out,” a ministry for at-risk youth    
“Eliphaz”        Walt Reigler,
“Bildad”          Bertram Slys, co-actor with wife in ”Slys of Life” players
“Zophar”         Steve Ellens,
“Elihu”            Adam Bell, day manager for Sundance Grill restaurant

Women’s Chorus

          Diane Lucar-Ellens, Professor of Spanish, Hope College
          Betty Lingholm, homemaker
          Mary Ann Heinen, human resources representative, Mary Free Bed
          Hospital
          Eunice Coin, Co-Manager, Grand Rapids Greyhound Bus Depot
          Ruth Smith, Co-Manager, Grand Rapids Greyhound Bus Depot

     This is the third time Pris has directed the work—once in 1984, again in 1989, and now with this cast, which originally performed at Master Arts in April, 2006.  Back in the ’80’s, the mosaic costumes were rented from Orlin Corey, but now they are no longer available.  Thus, Master Arts tackled the overwhelming task of making the majestic robes.  Following Irene Corey’s concept, over 1,500 pieces of satin cloth were artistically and intricately designed onto each of the black gowns.  Costumer Karen Larabel engineered the task, which required some 2,000 hours by more than forty volunteers.

     The mosaic motif is then made complete by Irene Corey’s make-up design.  Five volunteers work a combined total of 15 hours before each performance to ready the cast.   Janet Strokosch leads the team, a job she has performed each time Pris has staged the work.    

Conference Showcase: 
     The “Acting is  Visual Art” Discipline Track members, lead by Doug Berky, will present a short showcase of the components they learn including, mask, mime and movement.

HurleyInMotion Dance Piece:

HurleyInMotion made its public debut this past January 2007 performing at the Winter Dance Festival of Theatre of the Seventh Sister and as guests artists of Grant Street Dance Company at Franklin & Marshall. In April 2007 HurleyInMotion premiered a new piece at the Baltimore Museum of Art as guests of Kinetics Dance Theatre. The dance company is comprised of Gregg and Susan Hurley, with honorary members: Keegan and Nathan Hurley. Artistic Director/Choreographer Gregg Hurley has his B.A. in dance from Hofstra University and spent two consecutive summers as a scholarship student at the Harvard Summer Dance Center where he studied with Donald Byrd, Joe Goode, David Dorfman, Victoria Marks, Elizabeth Streb, and Lance Westergard. He toured nationally in the 50th Anniversary production of Oklahoma! and internationally in the European tour, The Best of Broadway. He is currently the choreographer for Sight and Sound Theatres. Company Manager Susan Hurley is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy and The American Musical & Dramatic Academy, (NYC). She has performed extensively in musical theatre and dance. HurleyInMotion has been noted for its innovation and ability to emotionally engage their audiences via character and plot driven dance. For contact information please visit HurleyInMotion.com.

On Saturday Afternoon a College Theatre Festival Featuring:

Arbor College
Friends University
Northwestern College