And the Word Became Flesh
A devised movement piece based on the Gospel of John
Directed by Brent Maddox
at Belmont University
November 2019
Set Design: Maggie Fitzgerald
Lighting Design: Rylee Hickey
Props Design: Sami Hansen
Photos by Rick Malkin Photography
Design and Process
The nature of this piece being a devised work based on one of the best known texts in the world provided an interesting challenge and incredible learning experience. As a company, we started from the base text and worked our way through creating the story that we wanted to tell. The eight actors were in three groups. There was one actress playing John, there were 3 actors portraying Jesus, and the remaining four actors were playing every other character in the Gospel of John. I used convertible wraps so that the four ensemble members could change the way they were wearing them to distinguish the different characters they were playing when they rarely left stage. The edges of the wraps were painted with Hebrew numerals of the chapters that the specific characters they were playing appeared in. I also used fabric manipulation on John and the Jesus costumes that were connected to the symbols and signs that they were portraying. John's sweater and headband contained all of the colors of the other robes to serve as a bridge between Jesus and the gospel characters.