TRIAL AND TRIBULATION; PLAYWRIGHT AIRS CHURCH DEBATE OVER GAYS IN `THE PRESENTMENT'.

Byline: Evan Henerson

A few years ago, D. Paul Thomas traveled to Wilmington, Del., to watch a highly unusual proceeding: a presentment (the ecclesiastical equivalent of an indictment) within the Episcopalian church. Bishop Walter Righter was accused of violating church doctrine by ordaining an openly gay man to the priesthood. The charge against him: heresy.

As Thomas sat in the second row, he found himself fascinated that a heresy trial could take place at the end of the millennium. He found the proceedings ``stimulating and provocative'' and, considering the heat over the subject matter, even civilized.

``I think it was a lesson in ...'' Thomas searches for a word and settles on ``etiquette.''

``The parties participate in a Eucharist and sing a hymn. Then they go down into the fellowship hall beneath the main sanctuary of the church and bring charges against a bishop. It's a little surreal. People are kneeling at the altar together and 30 minutes later are adversaries in a trial.''

Regardless of the trial's outcome, Thomas knew he had fodder for a dramatic story. And in April 1997, an early draft of his play ``The Presentment'' received a one-night reading at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena - where Thomas is a member and a parish leader - as part of a weekend conference focusing on inclusion within the church. Righter, who had been found not guilty of violating church doctrine and whose case never went to trial, was a special guest at the conference.

Thomas' play ended up in the hands of Pasadena Playhouse executive director Lars Hansen, who decided with artistic director Sheldon Epps to stage it. They put Thomas in touch with Richard Seyd, who has became ``The Presentment's'' dramaturge as well as its director.

On Sunday, ``The Presentment'' gets its world premiere at the Pasadena Playhouse, mere blocks away from the church that helped nurture it. The Rev. Ed Bacon of All Saints had accompanied Thomas to the New Jersey presentment and suggested that he write a play about the issue. Both in the inclusion conference and in other forums, Bacon has been outspoken in his - and his church's - support of gay and lesbians within the Episcopal church.

How better to spread that message than from the stage? Any stage.

``I'm such a believer in the power of drama to educate and transform,'' said Bacon. ``And I've found D. Paul's play-writing gift to be so profound. Our efforts are not focused only on the church. They're directed toward the entire culture, to try to make it more socially acceptable to celebrate the presence of gays and lesbians in the church.''

Thomas agrees, although he thinks the church is still a long way from celebrating differences. Raised in the Midwest in a climate that ``by its very exclusiveness created a homophobic atmosphere,'' Thomas says he has struggled with his own faith (albeit not with his stand on this particular issue.)

``Every week some Methodist pastor in Iowa is getting kicked out of the church for, you know, making a statement about gays and lesbians in his congregation or coming out as being gay,'' Thomas said. ``It's really creating a tremendous divisiveness in all of the churches, and I don't think the issue is going to go away. I think it's going to be the defining issue in the church in the next millennium.''

Though inspired, in part, by the Righter trial, ``The Presentment'' stays out of the courtroom, focusing more on how the split over church doctrine can splinter a family. Samuel Jennings, an Episcopalian priest and attorney (played by Jerry Hardin), clashes with his son, Michael (Daniel Nathan Spector), over the presentment prosecution of an openly gay priest who blesses same-sex covenants. The trial is ripping apart the family, with Samuel's wife, daughter-in-law and a close family friend among the casualties.

His play, Thomas says, is about a loss of faith in our culture. The playwright's own position about the church's debate over homosexuality is clear, but ``The Presentment'' clouds the waters. As the debate rages across the Jennings' dinner table, Thomas hopes Playhouse audiences will have much to chew on, even if it means post-play arguments among audience members.

Regardless of where your allegiance falls, Thomas wants his characters to be full flesh-and-blood entities rather than polemic-spouting straw men.

``You may not like or even agree with who they are, but that's the journey that I think is worth taking,'' said Thomas, ``to try to understand why they are who they are.''

The Rev. Samuel Jennings is a character who, the playwright admits, audiences ``might boo off the stage.'' Similarly, Jonathan Malone, a gay organist and Michael's friend, might be perceived as an enemy to the church's traditional position.

``Call it by any other name,'' Jonathan says in Act 2, describing Samuel Jennings' beliefs, ``ignorance, intolerance, the last prejudice, homophobia - essentially it is a poison that mutilates and devours everything it infects.''

``I think that's true,'' said Thomas. ``The church has wrestled and struggled with the issue of slavery and with the issue of women and realized that women not only have the right to be priests, but make wonderful priests.

``My hope is that the same will happen in the church with regard to our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters, but there are some who think it's going to be a blood bath before it's resolved. I hope it doesn't come to that, but they may be right.''

They might indeed. Following the Righter presentment decision, during a worldwide conference in Lambeth, England, the Episcopal Church approved a resolution that homosexual practice is ``incompatible with Scripture.'' Several dioceses, including the Diocese of Los Angeles, have refused to accept the Lambeth resolution.

Seyd, who hadn't followed the controversy before he came to the project, was also intrigued by the parallels among the church debate, the play and recent events in Washington.

``There is an extraordinary resonance between the Ken Starr/Bill Clinton absolutist vs. relativist debate: the whole question of somebody's private life being investigated because of their public position,'' Seyd said.

The facts

What: ``The Presentment.''

Where: Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. Molino Ave., Pasadena.

When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 5 and 9 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays; through April 25.

Tickets: $13.50 to $42.50. Call [phone] for information.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

PHOTO (1) Playwright D. Paul Thomas, left, and director Richard Seyd staged the drama based on an actual event.

(2) Daniel Nathan Spector, left, Jerry Hardin and Jeff Allin's characters clash over homosexuality in the church in the Pasadena Playhouse production of ``The Presentment.''