Religious Tolerance at the Theater

Panel (Left to Right): Noreen Herzfeld, Rabbi Barry D. Cytron, Kaarin S. Johnston, and Darrell Jodock. 

On Sunday, October 22, 2017, a panel of speakers led a discussion on religious tolerance following the matinee theatrical production of Nathan the Wise. The speakers included Noreen Herzfeld, Professor of Science and Religion at the College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University, Rabbi Barry D. Cytron, Director of the Collegeville Institute Multi-Religious Fellows Program,  Kaarin S. Johnston, Professor of Theater at the College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University and play director, and Darrell Jodock, Board Chair of the Collegeville Institute.

The Collegeville Institute partnered with the Theater Department of the College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University in staging Nathan the Wise in celebration of the Collegeville Institute’s 50th Anniversary. The play speaks to our day with no less impact than it did when it was first published in 1779. (The Roman Catholic Church of the time considered the play—which views Islam, Judaism, and Christianity without discrimination—to be a scandal to the faith and forbade its performance.)

The play was directed by Kaarin Johnston and held in the Colman Theater in the Benedicta Arts Center on the campus of the College of Saint Benedict. There were seven performances, October 19 – 24, 2017.

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