My research reflects my fascination with the paradoxical relationship between theatricality and religion. The assumption that theatre is fake and deals in pretenses has persisted since Plato’s critique of mimetic art, justifying centuries of antitheatrical sentiment. By contrast, the assumption that religion is real and deals in truths continues to fuel the evangelical impulse to convert nonbelievers. Theatre and religion seem intractable at odds with one another, and yet several religious organizations regularly adopt theatrical practices as methods of evangelizing, begging the question: can religious make-believe actually make belief?
Current Book Project
Bringing the Bible to Life: Biblical Adaptations in the United States of America during the Twenty-first Century
In my current research project, I investigate processes of adaptation which Christian theatre makers use to dramatize and politicize narratives from the Bible at immersive theatres, theme parks, and museums. Specifically, I track how adaptations of three narratives—the story of Noah’s Ark, the Passion of Christ, and this history of the Bible—use theatricality as an immersive preaching technique and incorporate the political messaging of Christian Nationalism into family-friendly entertainments, contributing to the further polarization of the political landscape of the United States.
Publications
“Performing Pilgrimage: Popular Religious Education and Chautauqua’s Palestine Park.” Theatre Symposium 31 (2024): 46-60.
“’Jesus, the Ark for Today’: Evangelizing through Sight & Sound Theatres’ Noah.” Studies in Musical Theatre 15, no. 3 (2021): 265-71. https://doi.org/10.1286/smt_00075_1.
Review of One Faith No Longer: The Transformation of Christianity in Red and Blue America, by George Yancey & Ashlee Quosigk. Religion 52, no. 2 (2022): 322-5. https://doi.org/10.1080/0048721X.2021.2024743
Virtual Tour: “The Great Passion Play: Eureka Springs, Arkansas,” Materializing the Bible Digital Scholarship Project. https://www.materializingthebible.com/the-great-passion-play.html
Virtual Tour: “Sight & Sound Theatres: Lancaster Pennsylvania & Branson, Missouri,” Materializing the Bible Digital Scholarship Project. https://www.materializingthebible.com/sight–sound-theatres.html
Future Book Project
The Devil’s Advocates: The Satanic Temple and Theatrical Activism
Continuing to draw on the fields of theatre, religious studies, and American studies, this project explores how the nontheistic religious movement, the Satanic Temple, adapts Christian imagery and narratives to publicly protest Christian Nationalism and defend religious freedom in the United States of America. Through ethnographic research, I investigate how contemporary Satanists counter the mythology of the US as a Christian Nation and directly challenge widely accepted notions about patriotism with live performance.
Chelsea M. Taylor, Ph.D. 