Produced by the Fellowship for the Performing Arts, the show's "script" is drawn directly from the New Testament (The Gospel According to Mark), offering the Gospel that features the "eyewitness story of Jesus," according to FPA. Performances will play to May 17.
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According to producers, "Fresh from his tour de force performance as Screwtape, the high level demon in hell, Max McLean brings a magnificent voice, compelling interpretation and exuberant theatricality to a more heavenly venture — the story of Jesus."
"More than any other Gospel, Mark lends itself to theatre," director Jeffrey Fiske (The Screwtape Letters) said in a statement. "It is written as if a reporter is sending first hand reports of Jesus' remarkable journey from rural obscurity to urban sensation to political assassination. The dialogue is both compelling and funny. Max McLean humanizes what are often seen by secular society as distant archetypes. He plays each character as a real human being, sometimes rendered comical in gape-mouthed incredulity by the miracles of a man who warns them 'not to tell anyone.' That, of course, is the very thing they do."
McLean is not new to performing the Bible. He is heard on an audio recording of the Bible, and appeared in the stage show Genesis (drawing on the Old Testament) in Chicago and Off-Broadway. Mark's Gospel's creative team includes scenic designer Nick Rastenis, costume designer Michael Bevins, lighting designer Jesse Klug, projection designer Sage Carter and sound designer Bart Fasbender.
The Mercury Theater is located at 3745 N. Southport Avenue in Chicago.
The performance schedule for Mark's Gospel is Thursday through Saturday at 8 PM with matinees on Saturday at 4 PM and Sunday at 3 PM.
Tickets range in price from $29-$48.50. Tickets are available by calling The Mercury Theater Box Office at (773) 325-1700, TicketMaster at (312) 902-1500, or visiting www.ticketmaster.com.
Discounted tickets for students and groups of ten or more are also available by calling (773) 477-7666.
For more information, visit www.MarkOnStage.com.
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Fellowship for the Performing Arts' mission is "to produce theatre from a Christian worldview that is engaging to a diverse audience. …Our vision is to select stories from the reservoir of great literature that explore how and why such choices are made, and to produce those stories in a theatrical manner that engages a diverse audience."
