Why Perpetual Felicity?
It all started with a Black History Month sermon.
Although ReNew York is not officially attached to a church, both Danielle and I (Amy) are involved in Hope Astoria. Our Justice Director, Donal Cogdell, preached a sermon about black Christianity in February 2023 – and he reminded us that Africans were significant figures in early church history!
Aside from the Bible story of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8, there were other stories we’d never heard before…like Perpetua and Felicity in Roman-occupied North Africa, who were imprisoned for their faith.
Perpetua was a nursing noblewoman who wrote in detail about their sufferings, including the pain in her breasts (from not being able to regularly nurse); and Felicity was a pregnant slavewoman who gave birth in prison. They are both recognized by the Catholic church as patron saints of motherhood and pregnancy, but our Protestant ears heard with wonder – for the first time – the legacy of distinctly African and feminine role models of faith.
We immediately both wondered, “Why don’t more people know about this!?”
Especially right now in our divided culture, where Christianity can be conflated with White Nationalism, we knew this story could have a positive impact. We realized how little we, like the broader American church, know of the non-whiteness of our early church.
But what if we helped highlight black Christian role models?
What if we remembered together that “Christian ideals" aren’t exclusively white…but can be defined by other races and cultures?
At the same time in 2023, Fellowship of Performing Arts (an NYC-based, touring Christian company that primarily features C.S. Lewis stories) had just announced its first-ever Clive Awards – a competition for faith-based scripts.
It was perfect timing. So we researched the first-hand accounts of Vibia Perpetua, drafted the play, and hosted homemade workshops with black church leaders to ensure it reflected authentic black perspectives.
There is room to argue that Perpetua and Felicity may not have been black in the way that we understand it. They did exist in a diverse part of Roman North Africa. But, as I have mentioned, we made a deliberate choice in an effort to bridge existing gaps in our society.
The Clive Awards wrapped up in 2024; we made it to the final 6 but didn’t win either 1st or 2nd place. Still, we were honored, and excitedly attended the public presentations of the winners. We met FPA staff who embraced us and shook our hands. And we were affirmed over and over again that the story of Perpetual Felicity mattered.
So we’ve submitted the play to Christian theater companies throughout the past year, from Houston to Minneapolis. This has been new for us, as Danielle and I tend to write non-religious works. But now, Arthouse 2B (a new NYC Catholic arts ministry that started in 2020) accepted Perpetual Felicity and will be featuring it in its inaugural New Works Festival! This will be its world premiere.
We are partnering with Raven McRae as a director. She has graced the Broadway stage in acclaimed productions, been recognized in the New York Times, and worked under Tony-Award winning choreographers. She was part of the creative team for Goddess the Musical which premiered at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Raven currently serves as the Creative Director of The Truth Project, a Christian-based arts initiative dedicated to using creativity to inspire, uplift, and empower communities through faith-centered expression.
Raven McRae, director of Perpetual Felicity
If you want to donate to our small-budget production, please do so here: https://actintl.givingfuel.com/renewyork
Otherwise, please pray with us as we embark on this journey! We will start casting, rehearsing, and designing soon. Pray for this to be just the beginning of impacting and uniting the church.
May we look to our differences as examples for growing in faith!
