Jennifer Petticolas says the idea for her latest original play came out of nowhere.
“I can’t even tell you where it came from,” she says. “(But) I had this idea: I wanted the play to start in the audience.”
That’s exactly how Black Theatre Ensemble’s “Take Me Back — A Christmas Musical,” begins, with a young man, Elijah, snatching the purse of an audience (and cast) member. The play opens Friday.
What comes next, Petticolas says, is a testament to “the message that God will forgive. All anyone has to do is ask.”
Instead of having him arrested, his victim, Annie, invites Elijah to come with her, and the two stop in a park to talk about their lives.
That’s when Elijah’s motives become clear: His family is about to be evicted from their home on Christmas Eve, and he’s trying to keep them together for the holidays.
Meanwhile, various other characters, based on Biblical figures, shuffle in and out of the park.
“Mary and Joseph are a couple walking in the park, talking about (how) she can’t have children,” Petticolas says. “The archangel Gabriel is a homeless person sitting in the park, drinking. You see them as just the opposite of what they are in the (Bible).”
She chose those characterizations because it shows “no matter who you are, you have the chance to turn your life around. God will take you back.”
Petticolas wrote 12 of the play’s 13 original songs; Jordan Sykes, who plays Elijah, also penned one.
At Black Theatre Ensemble’s request, Petticolas wrote the play last spring while on a trip to Ethiopia.
“I was getting ready to go out of town, so I said, ‘I’ve had some things rolling around in my head, I’ll write a play while I’m gone,’” she says. “(There are) a lot of Christian people there. It just made for a good place to write.”
If you’re goingWHAT: “Take Me Back — A Christmas Play”
WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday
WHERE: The Robert S. Payne Auditorium, 1201 Floyd St.
TICKETS: $12. They can be purchased at Givens Books in advance or at the door before performances.
INFO: (434) 665-2561
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