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ROGER NELSON: HOW ONE MAN PLAYS
(With Selections from St. Patrick & John Wesley)
Scott Souza
We've all seen actors and actresses who are essentially the same person
regardless of the role they play. When they have good roles in venues that suit
them, that sameness gives us a sense of continuity and breeds a familiarity
which is without contempt. To briefly mention just one well-liked paragon of
type casting we could cite Clint Eastwood. He has considerable range, but for
professional reasons has chosen roles which play off a single type of character.
In the vein of Charles Lawton, Roger Nelson has chosen to use his considerable range for character acting. His portrayal of St. Patrick and John Wesley are antipodal. They are also enthralling, entertaining, and believable. Roger disappears and his characters emerge.
Nelson, a member of the New York Actors Equity Association, is a Staley distinguished Christian Scholar, and has received the International Christian Visual Media's Crown Award for best actor. He has appeared at the Stratford-Upon-Avon Festival in England, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, the Stratford Festival Theatre in Canada, Carnegie Hall in New York, and Wesley's Chapel in London. His venues include principal roles in such plays as Butterflies Are Free, Chapter Two, Forty Carats, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and The Three Sisters. In addition, he has portrayed John Wesley and St. Patrick more than 1,200 times in 31 countries and 50 states.
SELECTIONS FROM THE CONFESSION OF ST. PATRICK
(James Akin: http://www.cin.org/users/james/files/patconf.htm)
I, Patrick, a sinner, most rustic, the least of all the faithful, and utterly despised by many. My father was Calpornius, a deacon, son of Potitus, a priest, of the village Bannavem Taburniae; he had a country seat nearby, and there I was taken captive.
I was then about sixteen years of age. I did not know the true god. I was taken into captivity to Ireland with many thousands of people -- and deservedly so, because we turned away from god, and did not keep His commandments, and did not obey our priests, who used to remind us of our salvation. And the Lord brought over us the wrath of his anger and scattered us among many nations, even to the utmost part of the earth, where now my littleness is placed among strangers.
Whence I, once rustic, exiled, unlearned, who does not know how to provide for the future, this at least I know most certainly that before I was humiliated I was like a stone lying in the deep mire; and He that is mighty came and in His mercy lifted me up, and raised me aloft, and placed me on the top of the wall.
From the time I came to know Him in my youth, the love of God and the fear of Him have grown in me, and up to now, thanks to the grace of god, I have kept the faith.
Daily I expect murder, fraud, or captivity, or whatever it may be; but I fear none of these things because of the promises of heaven. I have cast myself into the hands of God Almighty, who rules everywhere, as the prophet says: Cast your thought upon God, and He shall sustain you.
This sun which we see rises for us because he commands so, but it will never reign, nor will its splendor last; what is more, those wretches who adore it will be miserably punished. Not so we, who believe in, and worship the true sun -- Christ -- who will never perish, nor will he who does his will; but he will abide for ever as Christ abides for ever, who reigns with God the Gather Almighty and the Holy Spirit before time, and now, and in all eternity. Amen.
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SELECTIONS FROM THE JOURNALS OF JOHN WESLEY
(Revival Library: http://www.revival-library.org/wesley/)
Wesley Feels His Heart "Strangely Warmed"
In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death. (Revival-Library, Chapter 2)
Wesley's (Premature) Epitaph Written for and by Himself
Here lieth the Body
of
JOHN WESLEY,
A BRAND PLUCKED OUT OF THE BURNING:
WHO DIED OF A CONSUMPTION IN THE FIFTY-FIRST YEAR OF HIS AGE,
NOT LEAVING, AFTER HIS DEBTS ARE PAID,
TEN POUNDS BEHIND HIM:
PRAYING,
GOD BE MERCIFUL TO ME, AN UNPROFITABLE SERVANT
(Revival Library, Chapter 2)
Why Horses Stumble
Wednesday, 21.--In the following days I went on slowly, through Staffordshire and Cheshire to Manchester. In this journey, as well as in many others, I observed a mistake that almost universally prevails; I desire all travelers to take good notice of it, for it may save them both from trouble and danger. Nearly thirty years ago I was thinking, "How is it that no horse ever stumbles while I am reading?" (History, poetry, and philosophy I commonly read on horseback, having other employment at other times.) No account can possibly be given but this: because then I throw the reigns on his neck. I then set myself to observe; and I aver, that in riding above a hundred thousand miles, I scarcely ever remember any horse (except two, that would fall head over heels anyway) to fall or make a considerable stumble while I rode with a slack reign. To fancy, therefore, that a tight reign prevents stumbling is a capital blunder. I have repeated the trial more frequently than most men in the kingdom can do. A slack reign will prevent stumbling if anything will. But in some horses nothing can. (Revival Library, Chapter 15)
Wesley's Dying Words
"The best of all is, God is with us."
(Revival Library, Chapter 20)
~~~~~
To catch Roger Nelson live (an experience you will remember and enjoy) visit his homepage http://www.a1manplay.com/
and while there Check Out Roger Nelson's Current Itinerary to see when he will be near you.
1-818-794-3943
Friends of St. Patrick/Friends of John Wesley
1716 1/4 Sierra Bonita
Pasadena, CA 91104
Homepage:
http:www.a1manplay.com/
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