Creating the alternative
With the political world converging on Philadelphia this week, many of us are naturally thinking of ways to actively resist the powers that be and combat the cynicism that pervades our political system. There have been many protests, marches, and demonstrations that call attention to the injustices done to the masses. One of the ways that we fight back against reliance on the system and to move us ahead of the system is to continue to create the alternative. This can be done in many ways such as organizing within our neighborhoods, volunteering, and even through art.
The alternative through drama
My friend Louis Daily is creating the alternative through drama. Louis is an accomplished actor and has experience as a director as well. Last summer, he put on a well-received one-man show, and this year he has decided to expand his vision and take on the Bard himself with a whole host of others. Circle Performing Arts Alliance will present The Tempest this week. The play will be performed at 1125 S. Broad Street nightly at 7:00 pm on July 29th and 30th and August 5th and 6th. The cost is $10.
Proceeds for compassion
All of the proceeds go to benefit our Children’s Theatre Summer Camp, which is one of many of our Compassion Teams. This Compassion Team is focused on creating the alternative to our under-budgeted school systems. For two weeks in the summer, the children in the camp will have the opportunity to “write, create, and perform their own play exploring the themes of diversity and strong community.” While the political parties fund more wars (absolutely no one is talking about ending the “War on Terror”), we are funding the exploration of children’s minds. The powers that be may work out a budget sometime in the future for arts to be featured in our schools again, but we are creating the alternative now.
-Jerome Stafford, writing
Jerome has served as a Cell Leader Coordinator before becoming an apprentice pastor in 2015. From that process, he was called to serve as Church Planting Pastor focusing on growth of congregations across the network. Jerome earned a BA in English Literature from Penn State and is currently pursuing a Masters of Divinity from Palmer Theological Seminary at Eastern University. He married Darcy in March 2015. Their son, Ellison, was born May 2016. The Staffords reside in Southwest Philadelphia.