Virtual Devotion: A Play

by Eric Coble

Cast: 3m., 3w. (may be expanded to 6m., 6w.) Armageddon will be brought to you by—the Home Shopping Network! Virtual Devotion is a day in the life of three members of a shattered family trying to navigate a world of pollution, terrorism, and disease to make some connection through—and in spite of—their faith. Pete, a televangelist for "The Mature Warriors for Christ," preaches violent hate against sinners, especially youth, to his 35 million viewers. He's on top of the world until he discovers he has the Mystery Plague, a fatal illness he has praised as God's vengeance. Anne, a sweet young telemarketer for the Happy Halo Ministry for Children is desperately trying to raise funds to send CD-ROMs on the book of Job to children in Sudan. When her telephone number is mistakenly advertised as a national confession line, her life goes from harried to furious. Ruth is a sardonic woman who views the world from her armchair until she sees the face of Ezekial the prophet in her tapioca pudding. Now the world is clamoring at her door as everyone from CNN to Disney is after her and her miracle. And Jesus, only Son of the Living God, has come back. He begins the day in a temp agency and finds himself in a string of service economy jobs, including working at Chubby Burger and delivering pizza. But why is He here? Why now? And will anyone notice? All four become deeply entwined in one another's lives, eventually "meeting" on the Home Shopping Network selling religious artifacts just moments before what may just be the end of the world. Area staging. Approximate running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes.

85 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Eric Coble was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and bred on the Navajo and Ute reservations in New Mexico and Colorado. His plays have been produced off-Broadway, throughout the United States and on several continents including productions at Manhattan Class Company, the Kennedy Center, Playwrights Horizons, Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival, Alliance Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Laguna Playhouse, Stages Repertory, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, New York Fringe Festival, Great Lakes Theater Festival, Dallas Children's Theater and the Contemporary American Theater Festival. Awards include the AT&T Onstage Award, National Theatre Conference Playwriting Award, an NEA Playwright in Residence grant, a TCG Extended Collaboration grant, the Aristophanes Award for Best New Comedy, the Cleveland Arts Prize and two Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence grants.

Reviews

[Trisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

The play follows three "religious" family members through one day of their life. Humor, there was plenty, but I felt the play was lacking any real substance. The plot revolves around the commodification and mass production of religion, pointing out the greed that infuses such faith. Ruth, Pete, and Anne are each extremely interesting characters facing very unique situations. But after reading the play, I don't feel I understand them at all and I certainly don't identify with any of them. reading this play left me underwhelmed. I not only wanted more, I need more to truly have any connection to the story or the characters.

Perhaps the entertainment value is enough; after all I did say the play was funny. While that is certainly a possibility, it's probably only true if one watches the play instead of reading it.