Erin Thomas' American Jesus |
This story is about a contest. |
An alcohol-fueled Irish exchange student (John) attends the college with the biggest party-school reputation in the Midwest. As he races to the edge of self-destruction, the school puts him on probation, and forces him to live with Jessy -- the most well-known Christian on campus. |
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Jessy runs an internet-based ministry from his dormitory housing. The college -- trying to shed its party-school reputation, fully endorses Jessy's efforts. |
This endorsement infuriates Jessy's main competition on the internet: a mysterious atheist narmed Arcan, who pulls out all the stops to defame Jessy, even trying to convince John to kill himself on camera. |
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John is pushed and pulled in both directions, as he walks a line between expulsion and self-annihilation. American Jesus is a classic story of good versus evil, told in a contemporary voice. |
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A telephone booth outside of Dublin, eight in the morning... |
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American Jesus is written in iambic pentameter, in verse form. It is delivered in the contemporary vernacular. The story contains strong language, adult themes and references to drugs and alcohol. The screenplay contains very little cliched thought, few normal villains, nil propaganda and almost no references to President William Jefferson Clinton. |
Thomas wrote the script while living in the second floor of a house with a rock drummer living below him. Meter was inevitable. Upon moving to live in New York City, Thomas workshopped the play with two different sets of actors. Thomas played the role of "John." Workshops took place in locations ranging from a studio on 43rd Street to the Russian Tea Room. |
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“The devil, then, is the very wellspring of lies, the creator of falsehoods . . . . When he lies, he is the original. When he does not lie (Acts 16:16,17), he quotes or even plagiarises; but even then he gives the borrowed words a false setting in order to create an illusion. He ever strives to lie and to deceive, and this he does in order to murder.” (The Gospel of John, Baker, p.61) |
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