Todd E. Johnson:
Theology and Theatre in Dialogue

Beginning with a chance connection ten years ago, theologian Todd E. Johnson and theatre artist Dale Savidge started a conversation about the intersection of theology and theatre—and never stopped. As Fuller’s William K. and Delores S. Brehm Associate Professor of Worship, Theology, and the Arts, Dr. Johnson found there was much to talk about with Savidge, who is executive director of Christians in Theatre Arts, a national networking organization founded in 1987 to support and encourage theatre artists of faith.

When Johnson was approached by Baker Books to contribute a volume on theatre to its Engaging Culture series—a series edited by Fuller professors Robert Johnston and William Dyrness—he agreed on the condition that Savidge collaborate with him. “I thought that we needed to somehow open the conversation we have been having for the last decade to a wider audience,” says Johnson. “So we wrote the book as a conversation, one that addresses both the theatre audience and the theology academy.”

Performing the Sacred: Theology and Theatre in Dialogue is the first full-scale exploration of the interplay and overlay of these two arenas. Johnson and Savidge illuminate the importance of live performance in a virtual world while exploring how theologically, theatre reflects Christianity's central doctrines—incarnation, community, and presence—enhancing the human creative experience.

“Johnson and Savidge . . . remind us that when theology and theatre meet, the result is insight into what it means to be human and a beautiful doxology to our God,” says David McFadzean, Hollywood producer, writer, and co-creator of the television series Home Improvement.

Performing the Sacred: Theology and Theatre in Dialogue is available at the Fuller Bookstore.