Thresholds

  "I am The Door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved..."
John 10:9

     In building The Pilgrim’s Progress, I realized I was faced with a formidable design problem in creating the background props.  A realistic set of mountains, trees and valleys seemed out of the question… Whatever I came up with would need to “set off” the action of Christian’s journey in a concise and meaningful way. 

     A resounding solution came to me as I realized that every key scene in the story pushes our hero across a “threshold” to a place of advancement and deeper understanding. Doorways along the Straight and Narrow Path became the perfect “set” solution.  The dank green entryway to the City of Destruction is left behind early on.  Christian advances towards the Wicket Gate, across the Interpreter’s threshold, the entry to Palace Beautiful flanked by sentinel lions, the glittering archway façade that is Vanity Fair, through and out Giant Despair’s dungeon door and finally  to the Celestial Gate. 

     The centerpiece, however, and also halfway-mark through the story is Christian’s arrival at the one true entry:  The Cross.  Although it is not represented visually as a door in the play, the powerful story context created by Bunyan punctuates its significance as our threshold to life here and the promise of life beyond… 

     The Cross immediately points us to Christ, Who, quite interestingly, called Himself … “The Door.” One of my favorite things about theatre is that so often the simplest solution is also the very best.

                                                                                                                                                                                                     -David Simpich