Tent Revival at Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lindsborg

Ephemeral Theatre Ensemble will perform a reading of Tent Revival by Smoky Valley native Majkin Holmquist on Friday, March 1, at 7:00 p.m., at Messiah Lutheran Church in Lindsborg. The play was staged as part of the Yale School of Drama’s Carlotta Festival in 2018 and received a digital production through Paula Vogel’s Bard at the Gate in association with the McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, NJ.

Tent Revival is set in rural Kansas in 1957. Robert, a farmer-turned-preacher searches for inspiration, his wife, Mary, for hope, and their daughter, Ida, for a sense of stability. When a seeming miracle turns their makeshift church on its head, young Ida follows her parents across the state as they spread the word of their newfound convictions. But when the miracles begin to multiply, and the demand for spiritual healing grows faster than anyone expected, Ida must confront the cost of deeds done to inspire faith.

The cast of five includes Dan Metcalfe as Robert, Ann Metcalfe as Mary, Jerri Zehnder Riddell as Ida, Addison Haiden as Joanne, and Linda Lewis as The Player, who takes on a number of roles in the play. Greg LeGault directs the reading; Pastor Amy Truhe is the stage manager.

Holmquist was a co-founder of The Next Stage Theatre Company. Her plays include Every Anne Frank, two-headed calf, Quickmatch, The Dog Pack Play, Stargazers, and Skinflint (staged reading, Bethany College, 2022). Other credits include The Quonsets (co-written with Alex Lubischer, staged at Yale Cabaret), Broken Melodies (WVIT Women in Theatre Festival), and Styx Songs (contributing writer, Yale Cabaret). Her work has been developed at New York Stage and Film, Woodshed Collective, Bay Street Theatre, Page 73, Ucross, and Roundabout Theatre Company. She has been a finalist for Colt Coeur, the Pacific Playwright’s Festival, and PlayPenn. Holmquist is currently a member of Midnight Oil Collective, the I73 Writer’s Group, and a Lecturer in Playwriting at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University. She holds a B.A. in Secondary English Education from Bethany College and an M.F.A. in Playwriting from the Yale School of Drama.

A recipient of Page 73 Production’s 2023 Playwright’s Fellowship and the Tow Foundation Playwright-in-Residency program, Holmquist’s play Stargazers will have its off-Broadway premiere from April 8 to May 4 at the Connelly Theatre in New York City.

A short talkback session will follow the play.