THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 2, 1996 TAG: 9607310167
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOHN-HENRY DOUCETTE, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 78 lines
A group of Chesapeake thespians is headed north with a wholesome message.
The members of the Fairview Heights Baptist Church theater group of Portsmouth will take a performance of the evangelistic musical-drama ``Bind Us Together'' on the road Aug. 9. Five members of the cast live in Chesapeake.
After a performance in Pennsylvania, the troupe will head to Toronto to perform at several Baptist churches in the Ontario city.
``Bind Us Together'' is a family story that follows the near-breakup of a couple torn apart by conflicting values. The wife is involved in the church. The father cares more about climbing the company ladder. Caught in the middle is their daughter, played by 9-year-old Jessica Collins, daughter of Tom and Donna Collins of Chesapeake.
All three Collinses appear in the play, as does Chesapeake's Rebecca Chadwick, 12-year-old daughter of Susan H. Chadwick, who is the production's technical director.
``Bind Us Together'' was written by Portsmouth playwright Kathy E. Frady, wife of John J. Frady, the youth leader at Fairview Heights. It is the fourth of Frady's plays the church has performed in the past two years.
The last three have been religious productions about people in conflict when they haven't turned to God. The resolution in each play occurs when the main character becomes a born-again Christian.
``I think drama is one of the most important ways to communicate,'' said Kathy Frady, 29, who also plays the wife. ``That Jesus loves you, that Jesus died for you, that Jesus can save you is one of the most important messages we can communicate.''
Donna Collins is thrilled about the evolution of the theater group at Fairview, the church she has attended since her teen years.
``It's wonderful to see Kathy's and John's involvement with the young people,'' said Collins, who is now 45. ``This is something I've longed for and prayed for.''
The youngest Collins gets to shine with a vocal solo called ``Children Are the Broken Pieces When a Home Falls Apart.'' It is a moment the cast called tender, and a song they consider painfully true.
``Her song really cuts you up,'' said Fairview's pastor, Dr. George ``Ted'' Barton. ``It really gets to your heart.''
Barton hails from Canada, where he studied and taught seminary until 1986, when he moved to the U.S. with his American wife, a Hampton native named Margaret E. Barton, whom he met in Chicago.
The pastor continued to teach seminary in Toronto until 1986, when he and his wife relocated to her native Virginia.
But he kept the lines of communication with his Canadian friends, and it is his church contacts in Toronto who will host the traveling play. Many of the Toronto church representatives who are helping support this endeavor are former students of Barton.
The pastor, who holds dual citizenship, feels the experience will be good for both performers and audiences.
``And this is something our staff can show Canadian churches, mainly to inspire them that they can do something like this,'' he said.
Each member of the cast pays $100 toward the trip, or volunteers the use of his or her vehicle. They will stay with church families in each of the towns they visit. A collection plate will make the rounds after each performance to help pay expenses.
And the actors are the stage hands. At each rehearsal, they practice building and disassembling the set. Susan Chadwick controls the audio and the technical aspects of the play from just offstage during the performances, but between acts, everybody helps.
The effort is worth it, they said, in order to spread their message about God.
``We're hoping to reach as many people as we can,'' said Donna Collins.
The first performance of ``Bind Us Together'' is at 7 p.m. Aug. 4 at Fairview Heights Baptist Church in Portsmouth. A second local show will be performed at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 7 at Park View Baptist Church in Newport News.
The play travels north Aug. 9. There is no charge for admission. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by L. TODD SPENCER
Jessica Collins, 9, left, Rebecca Chadwick, 12, and Donna Collins of
Chesapeake, and Margaret Barton of Portsmouth act out a scene in
``Bind Us Together.'' by CNB