Lebanon Valley College Hosts World Premiere of Philadelphia Theater Company's "The Matter of Frank Schaefer"

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A scene from "The Matter of Frank Schaefer," which will premiere at Lebanon Valley College November 8th.

ANNVILLE, PA (10/09/2014)(readMedia)-- Lebanon Valley College will host the world premiere of "The Matter of Frank Schaefer," an original play produced by the Curio Theatre Company. The performance will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8 in Miller Chapel.

This full-length live theatrical performance follows the journey of Lebanon County pastor Rev. Frank Schaefer from April 28, 2007-when he performs the marriage of his son to another man-through the 2013 trial in which the church finds him guilty of disobedience and removes him from service. In the course of his dynamic and influential response to the trial, Schaefer challenges the Church "to stop treating gays as second-class Christians." The play is an inspirational tale for the faithful and disbeliever alike.

Philadelphia-based playwrights Paul Kuhn and Tim Martin interviewed Rev. Schaefer multiple times as well as hundreds of people associated with the story. They went to his preaching events, and studied interviews he gave on shows like The View and Anderson Cooper 360. Additional playwrights were hired to help refine the script, as well as six actors whose rehearsal time helped to develop the final production.

"Because they wanted to open the production in Frank's own community-the community most impacted by the story-staff at Curio Theatre Company contacted us at Miller Chapel," said Paul Fullmer, chaplain at Lebanon Valley College. "With seats for almost 1,000 people, we're hoping to welcome many from throughout the County and beyond to the College for this special event." Rev. Schaefer, who is also supportive of this production, has indicated that he will return to Pennsylvania to attend the premiere.

Tickets are $15 each. Advance orders for groups of 10 people or more are $10 per person and church youth group tickets are $10 per student. Tickets are available online at www.eventbrite.com. Admission to the show is free to LVC students with their College ID.

For more information or to order tickets, contact LVC's Office of Spiritual Life at 717-867-6135 or email Natalia Smith at nsmith@lvc.edu. More events sponsored by the Office of Spiritual Life are listed at http://www.lvc.edu/spiritual-life/concerts-events.aspx. For more information about the Curio Theatre Company, visit www.curiotheatre.org.