Northwestern Drama Ministries Ensemble to tour Albania

Northwestern College’s Drama Ministries Ensemble (DME) will tour and perform dramas from the Bible in Albania during spring break March 2–14.

The theatre company will be hosted by Torchbearers–Albania, a summer camp and Bible education ministry that grew out of an Albanian church’s ministry to Kosovo refugees in the late 1990s. Torchbearers–Albania is directed by the father of DME cast member Abi Stoscher.

Under the direction of Northwestern theatre professor Jeff Barker, the nine-member DME will perform the Easter Passion story from the Gospel of Luke. The performance opens with a recitation from Isaiah 53, prophesying Christ’s death, which will be delivered in Albanian by Stoscher.

Raised mostly in the European country, Stoscher has also scripted two Bible stories into Albanian: Zacchaeus the tax collector’s meeting with Jesus (Luke 19) and Jesus’ miracle of raising Jairus’ daughter from the dead (Luke 8). DME members will perform the stories in their Albanian hosts’ primary language.

The company will also perform the Gospel stories of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10) and the 10 lepers (Luke 17), and individual cast members will enact scenes from Scripture, including Moses and the burning bush (Exodus 3).

While in Europe, the Drama Ministries Ensemble will travel in the neighboring country of Greece, visiting Thessaloniki and Philippi, cities that were homes to early churches in the history of Christianity. They also will facilitate two days of workshops on presenting the Bible for pastors and worship leaders throughout Albania. The workshops are being hosted by Torchbearers–Albania.

“Abi’s parents have described the church in Albania as ‘starting over’ since the fall of communism in the 1990s,” explains Barker. “Abi’s mom said the churches there are like first-generation churches, so we’re eager to teach them what we’ve discovered about this ancient way of sharing the Bible.”