Sunday, Nov. 10, 5:00-6:00 PM, Elon Community Church.
You are invited to meet Dietrich Bonhoeffer as portrayed by Michael Shannon in the play “The End, the Beginning of Life: The Prison Experiences of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) was a German Lutheran pastor executed for his role in a plot to assassinate Adolph Hitler. Why did he abandon his pacifist leanings to join the plot against Hitler? What were his thoughts during his 2 years of imprisonment?
The play, which takes place in his prison cell and is based on his _Letters and Papers from Prison_, explores Bonhoeffer wrestling with his faith.
More about Bonhoeffer: Dietrich Bonhoeffer was part of the German Confessing Church that opposed the Nazi regime after its rise to power in 1932. After being denied the opportunity to teach at the University of Berlin by the Nazi government, he served as the principle faculty member for an underground seminary of the Confessing Church. Bonhoeffer opposed the message of “cheap grace” that was being presented by churches that had come under nationalistic influence and called for a more radical “costly” discipleship to Jesus Christ. He eventually joined a plot by members of the German resistance movement to assassinate Hitler, setting aside his pacifist leanings and admiration of Gandhi in the face of the evils of the Nazi regime. Bonhoeffer was executed at Flossenburg Concentration Camp on April 9, 1945 – just days before its liberation by American troops.
About the Artist: Michael Shannon is a UCC pastor who lives in Carrboro and holds an MFA in drama from UNC-Chapel Hill. He has presented this play to audiences all over the US during the past 20 years since developing it with his friend David Newton as a seminary project during their years at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University.