Jonathan Mace, 23, is a student from Lichfield, Staffordshire. He served as a full time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Chile, between 2009 and 2011. Now, he’s involved as Assistant Director of The British Pageant.
It surprises me just how huge this production is. It is the largest theatre production that I have ever been involved in over many years of theatre experience. I feel like even now, in the middle of our major rehearsal period, I don’t quite understand how many people are physically involved with this production. There is a cast of over 180 each night with a choir of 120 and this doesn’t even take into account of our crew and artistic team.
It’s more astonishing to me that each of these individuals is volunteering their time and talents: a huge sacrifice considering how much work has gone into the production. It’s a blessing in my life to be giving up my own time in order to volunteer with the team working on the British Pageant. The people that are portrayed on stage, who are mostly early converts to the Church in the British Isles, inspire me with their stories of sacrifice, as they chose to follow what they believed in. For me, and I know many of the other cast and crew members, it’s an honour to share their story.
The British Pageant is full of the teachings of Jesus Christ. Through acting, song and dance, we are able to teach principles that He taught, while trying to be followers of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Our desires to not only create a great show, but also to spread the joy that we feel as we members of the Church, makes this process so different to others that I’ve been involved in. We don’t demand of our cast and crew; instead we invite them to participate and serve with us. We hope that as our cast takes the message of the Pageant into their hearts, they will help to reach out and touch the lives of others.
We hope that those who don’t share our faith that attend the British Pageant will still experience a few ‘wow’ moments. They’ll be impressed when they walk onto the Temple site and see our magnificent temple and beautiful grounds. They’ll participate in exciting nineteenth century games and activities, and they’ll be able to meet members of the cast, dressed in period costumes. They’ll be astounded by the theatre; a marquee bigger than anything other I’ve ever seen, with raised seating and an impressive stage.
They’ll be impressed with the show itself: it will be a truly wonderful production. We hope that everyone will be able to relate to at least one of the characters portrayed in the Pageant and that they’ll find greater peace and happiness in their lives while finding greater faith in Jesus Christ. We hope that they will feel welcome and that we accept them as part of our Pageant family.
