Twelve Minor Prophets

The Eno River Players presented Twelve Minor Prophets, a new play by Charlie Mayhew and Leo Egger. Based on the Book of the Twelve from the Bible, the show is a freewheeling revue of early Jewish history that begs the question: is God really finished with us?

After the death of his father, a biblical scholar, Jesse has the same dream every night: his dad holds up a blank book and points to an audience. Jesse thinks he knows what it means: he is being called to finish his father’s work.

To do this, he's gathered some actor friends to help him stage the Twelve Minor Prophets—Jonah, Hosea, Amos, and nine others whose names you can't remember—the angry, repetitive, often impossible-to-parse books of the Bible his father spent years trying to understand. They'll perform them in different genres: a Western, a teen drama, a musical. His sister, Abby, will provide historical context. It'll be fun. Redemptive. A way to say goodbye.

It doesn’t go as planned.

The prophets wrote about catastrophe, exile, God's love, and God's wrath, often in the same breath. Jesse's trying to make sense of their message and his father’s legacy, while also trying not to fall apart in front of an audience. These goals turn out to be related (and impossible).

•  REVIEW IN NEW YORK MAGAZINE