Another Way

Another Way was produced in June, 2015, as part of Tehachapi Community Theatre’s 10-Minute Play Festival. The play won the Silver Quill Award in the Festival.  

This play stems from experiences I had in my earlier career in media and journalism. On assignment in Belfast during The Troubles in Northern Ireland in the 1980s, I interviewed Methodist minister Sydney Callaghan. He walked freely around both sides of the war-torn city, exuding a sense of calmness and love. I felt safe being near him. In my hotel room at night, I could hear explosions in the city below. With Reverend Callaghan, I felt nothing but peace. 
     Shortly after the riots in Washington, D.C., following the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., I was assigned to meet with an elderly white couple who ran the Christian Science Reading Room that was in the midst of the riot area. They had stayed and kept it open during the riot as a haven for anyone who needed safety. They said they had a full house of mostly women and children. The Reading Room remained untouched while much of the neighborhood was burned out. We walked around the area as we talked, and I felt that same sense of peace and calm with them that I had felt in Belfast with Reverend Callaghan. If I wandered off to take pictures of the devastation, I would start to feel anxiety. But near them, there was only peace -- and love.