The Cobbler, The Bishop, Their Prince, and His Madman is a play by Doug Berky that suggests there is truth to the old saying, “Where love is, God is.” As we face these troubled times, when so many leaders have lost faith and forsaken virtue, Berky’s play is a journey to the places where God is at work, where despair becomes hope, where war is defeated by the sowing of compassionate seeds, and where pompous vanity can be dissolved by healing laughter.

The Cobbler, The Bishop, Their Prince, and His Madman is a collection of Leo Tolstoy’s stories adapted for the stage and woven together. In a kind of time travel collaboration, Leo Tolstoy and Doug imagine together a new story by bringing four of Tolstoy’s tales together into a shared narrative.

Writing in pre-revolutionary Russia, Tolstoy was critical of the injustice experienced by the people. Much of his criticism and witticism was directed at the ruling classes, the government, and the institutional church. In a marriage of artist and material, The Cobbler, The Bishop, Their Prince, and His Madman is a play that reaffirms a way forward. In Doug Berky’s sharply observed, high-spirited staging, light and laughter can be found unexpectedly amid the world’s darkest dilemmas.

“Where love is, God is.” Yes, it’s that simple. Please join us for this thrilling evening of theater in the sanctuary of Trinity Episcopal Church, 1202 N. Chestnut Street in Lumberton, on Friday, October 24th at 7:00 pm.

This performance is free and open to the public! A Love Offering will be gathered. For further information, please contact Jef Lambdin; woole@mindspring.com.