Can Devout Catholics Work in Theater?

An Example of Holiness

Once, at a teachers’ workshop, I heard a woman describe a beautiful altar which she had created in her workplace. Each day, the woman would kneel before the altar, pray fervently that she would do a good job, and then get to work. This admirable practice is even more remarkable in light of the fact that the woman is renowned actress Chita Rivera, and her work was her current theatrical performance.

Ms. Rivera’s dressing room altar came as a surprise to me. Broadway is known for many things, but holiness is hardly one of them. Nevertheless, this renowned actress prefaced every performance by praying that she would remember every lyric and every line in her script. Moreover, she did not hesitate to describe her daily practice of prayer to an auditorium full of public school teachers. Amidst the worldly and sometimes wayward displays of contemporary entertainment, here is one person whose spirituality burns within.

Christians who love the arts need this kind of example. Further, they need to know that even in today’s culture, an artist can bring forth work that is consistent with Gospel values, and that leads people to the truth, beauty, and goodness that is God.

Unexpected Companions

With my community theater troupe preparing for our annual summer musical, the need to lead both actors and audience to these transcendent values is ever before me as a director. Despite the secularization of our culture, I view adult community theater as a ministry. Wherever a Christian works, or plays, is a place for evangelization.

Evangelization and theater are certainly unexpected companions. One attends a show for entertainment, not spirituality. One joins a theater troupe to act, sing, and dance, not to pray. Moreover, most contemporary scripts are not rated “G”. The moral issues raised by popular movie content spurred the USCCB to create its own movie rating system, whereby Catholics could make discerning moral choices for their viewing. Similarly, live theater is not free from morally objectionable material.

Theater’s Moral Challenges

Like any art, theater scripts reflect the culture that creates them. Foul language has practically become acceptable in many circles, and so it appears in scripts. Worse than this, from a Catholic perspective, is the disrespectful use of the Lord’s name, which, sadly, is also commonplace. Reflections of the culture’s attitudes toward sexuality can be problematic for Catholics. Society’s general indifference toward God and some people’s outright animosity against religion are challenges to the faithful that also make their way onto the stage.

One may discern that the world of theater is too great a moral minefield for faithful Catholics. Better to be employed in a safer career, and better to find a recreation activity on the sports field or the local choir.

The resulting problem is that if every devoted Christian abandoned the theater, who would be left there to be the light of Christ?

Life in the Arts and the Call to Holiness

Life in the arts, including theater, is consistent with the holiness to which all Christians are called. From St. Francis de Sales to Pope John Paul II, the Church encourages Catholic artists to use their talents as part of a holy life. In his Introduction to the Devout Life, de Sales advises, “It is … heresy to suppose that a devout life is necessarily banished from the soldier’s camp, the merchant’s shop, the prince’s court, or the domestic hearth” (De Sales, 10). If one can live a holy life in a soldier’s camp, surely one can do so in the theater! De Sales points out that some people have greater success living holy lives amidst the secular world than they would in places more commonly associated with virtue.

In his Letter to Artists, John Paul II elaborates on the spirituality of the arts. He speaks of the Holy Spirit’s breath, which inspired the work of creation in Genesis. “Every genuine inspiration … contains some tremor of that ‘breath’ with which the Creator Spirit suffused the work of creation from the very beginning” (John Paul II, 15). John Paul II writes that the Holy Spirit stirs humans’ creative power and gives “a kind of inner illumination which brings together the sense of the good and the beautiful” (15). What dignity this gives to artists, to consider their work as an illumination of the Holy Spirit, with the same movement that called the world into being.

John Paul II encourages artists to develop their talent and to “put it at the service of their neighbour and of humanity as a whole” (3). In addition, the late Pontiff appeals to artists to recognize the relationship between the Gospel and art. He observes that artists search for the hidden meaning of things. Religion offers explanations of this meaning. He writes that individuals should use their art to explore the mystery of the Incarnate God, as well as the mystery of man himself (14).

Some Practical Solutions

Rather than hiding one’s talents like the man in the parable, Catholic theater artists need to use them for the good of humanity. This does not mean that we proselytize, nor that we crumble before the moral challenges that contemporary theater presents. As with any evangelical work, we prepare our hearts with prayer, steel ourselves with grace from the sacraments, and allow the Holy Spirit to work through us.

As a director, I occasionally find it necessary to remove an offending term from a script. I find little resistance to this practice, although a student actress once, in her nervousness on stage, let fly a curse involving the name of God. It was in a high school production I directed, and we had edited the word out of the script. I happened to have taught the actress in our parish children’s choir years before. In our private talk afterward, I told her sincerely, “You know where I come from. You know why I didn’t want to have that word said here.” An upsetting occasion became an opportunity to bring the faith we shared into our work in the public school, without preaching to the rest of the students.

There are other ways to deal with moral issues as well. Costumes can be judiciously designed to be flattering, modest, and true to the character. Choreography can tell the story of the show without provocative moves. Show titles can be chosen with propriety and morality as priorities. In the end, some shows are simply impossible to alter to meet the sensibilities of a discerning Christian director.

Sanitize vs. Sanctify

In the show my adult community theater is producing this month, one scene is scripted to involve a strip dance. Of course, that’s not happening. Early in the production process, one person brought up the fact that this was in our show. In the discussion that followed, it was apparent that everyone expected the scene to be changed, which it will be. The principal actress commented, “I wondered how you would do that number.” What struck me about the exchange was that the actors fully expected the show to be modest and moral. Our group has developed that reputation.

Critics sometimes condemn the idea of removing an offending word, gesture, or costume. They write in a condescending tone about a director trying to “sanitize” the script. They argue for realism, truth in all its ugliness, rather than a false idea of life.

John Paul II addresses this concept. Recognizing the value of analyzing the human experience, he writes, “Even when they explore the darkest depths of the soul or the most unsettling aspects of evil, artists give voice in a way to the universal desire for redemption” (John Paul II, 10).

Directors must discern whether an offending item creates an opportunity for valuable reflection. If so, it may be worth presenting.

The goal is not to sanitize, but to sanctify. When we sanctify a piece of art, we lift it up. We make it as good as it can be. We appeal to the audience’s nobler impulses.

Catholic Christian theater artists must highlight truth, beauty, and goodness. In this way, we lead souls to Christ.

Works Cited

De Sales, Francis. Introduction to the Devout Life. Charlotte, TAN Books, 2013.

John Paul II. Letter to Artists. https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/letters/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_23041999_artists.html . 11 July 2022.

Rivera, Chita. Presentation at Broadway Teachers’ Workshop, July, 2020.