Religion - 'A Certain Nobleman' to be performed July 31

New Jersey.com: Religion - 'A Certain Nobleman' to be performed July 31

“A Certain Nobleman” will be performed at Norma Mennonite Church, 173 Almond Road, Norma, as a dramatic reading at 7 p.m. on Sunday, July 31. This performance is free and the public is invited.

The play was written for radio by noted author Dorothy Sayers. It recounts the story of Jesus turning water to wine and several other Gospel episodes.

“Since the piece was originally written as a ‘sound only’ production we are trying to recreate the feel of Ms. Sayers’ radio experience,” said the Rev. Tim Darling, pastor at the church. “We could act it out with costumes and set, but that wasn’t the way it was imagined.”

The cast of eight will perform multiple roles, adding sound effects along the way. The audience may take the opportunity to imagine they are a live audience in a World War II era radio studio.

Norma Mennonite Church has given a number of dramatic productions, including a youth drama camp that ran for several summers.

Rev. Darling acted for seven years at Sight and Sound in Strasburg, Pa.

As a drama coach, he serves the Millville school district’s Gifted and Talented program in the annual “Performance Plus” workshops in the spring.

Sayers, known for her mysteries, wrote “Nobleman” as one installment of a much larger 12-part work titled “The Man Born to Be King,” performed on BBC beginning during the Christmas season of 1941.