To There and Back Again

By Ted Swartz Feb 13, 2015 in Freeman South Dakota, I performed “Laughter is Sacred Space.” (Click here for a decent review of the show.) Laughter reflects my relationship with Lee Eshleman, our discovering one another, our work together, and resulting 20 year friendship. And then, following his death, the period of grief and recovery…

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The Jesus Stories and the other Jesus Stories

It’s called The Jesus Stories and as the title suggests that’s what Ted and I (Jeff Raught) try to do. Finding new ways, while visiting some of the old, to tell these stories of Jesus. It’s a play interwoven with music and scenes around food. Pasta, cheese, fine wine and so much more. But that’s…

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St. John’s: The Quest for the Nugget of Truth

The church at St. John’s is a loosely structured group, with more emphasis on the “loose” and “group” than on the “structure.” Which is not to say that they are a loose group, or without moral structure. It’s just that the organizational structure is loose in nature – let’s say “relaxed fit.” In creating the…

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Fish Eyes – The Gospel of I Don’t Know

Next week Ted & Company will present four performances of Fish Eyes to celebrate 20 years of this beloved show. From April 10-13, Ted Swartz and Jason Hildebrand will take up their nets and don their (figurative) fisherman’s waders at Court Square Theater in Harrisonburg VA, drawing audiences into the first century lives of Jesus’…

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Kickstarter dreams

Last week Ted and Company launched a Kickstarter campaign. This is our first endeavor in the world of crowd-funding, but Learning to Play seemed to be the perfect project; still developing, pertinent subject matter, lots of energy to make it better. As you might imagine it is a bit scary as well, and so, it…

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At Christmastime – Seuss and Sharing

Our oldest son Eliot is a first grade teacher. He was a “pied piper” when he was a kid—younger children always seemed to be following him around. He wasn’t necessarily cultivating their attention, there just seemed to be something about him. So it was no surprise to Sue and I when he decided to become…

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