Loving God Boldly Together explores Christianity, LGBT relationships

A new play written, performed and staged by University of Georgia students explores the complex relationship between Christianity and LGBT communities.

Jai Gonzales, a junior at the University of Georgia, is the stage manager for "Loving God Boldly Together," a new play written by fellow UGA student Caro Caden. The play opens on Nov. 28 at the Cellar Theatre.

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The production is unabashedly queer, with Chick-fil-A jokes and messy lesbian drama to spare. Gonzales, Caden and the rest of the team hope to not only make their audience laugh, but think about their own walks in faith.

"Seeing people who have been hurt by the church kind of reclaiming that, like finding ways for them to still find joy in God. ... I think that's something that not just queer people but all kinds of people who may have been church can relate to," said Gonzales.

How the play was born

Caden first got the idea for the play in April 2021. A professor tasked them with writing a scene for their Women in Performance class at UGA. 

"I wrote a scene about an imaginary club called Loving God Boldly Together and these queer people coming to church," they said.

Though it was a one-off assignment, Caden couldn't get it off their mind. Throughout the early pandemic, they said they struggled with finding queer community and parsing through questions of faith.

"It came out of this desire to reconcile my religious past with my queer present," they said. "It made me think: What is queer community? How do we find it?"

With support from their advisor, Dr. Marla Carlson, they spent the following semester drafting a complete script, culminating in a stage reading in December 2021. Now, over a year since Caden wrote that first scene, Loving God Boldly Together is a fully-fledged play.

"I'm just constantly baffled and appreciative every day. This is crazy, like, hearing my writing out loud," they said. "I think that the actors and designers have brought a new life to the scripts that I never could have imagined," they said.

A collaborative effort

From the jump, Caden was intent on making the play an effort of many rather than few. They recalled sending messages about workshopping the play to various group chats for LGBT UGA students.

"I just wanted to get as many people involved as possible," they said.

As students responded, word also spread throughout the greater LGBT community in Athens. Athens Pride and Queer Collective gave a small grant to support production costs. Oconee Street Methodist offered its church sanctuary for two performances. Students and townies alike offered photography services, social media expertise, prop donations and even set design.

"Athens was the place where I felt safe to come out," said Caden. "I found community here and found family here. And so to pay homage to Athens with this piece is awesome."

20-year-old Emma Alexander, who plays the character Sapphron, saw Caden's message in a group chat. Though she hadn't done a theatre production since middle school, she figured it was worth a shot.

"We read through the play and I was really intrigued by it. I really liked the exploration of queer and religious identity," she said. "And so I was like, 'I'll be a part of it.'"

Gonzales, who knew Caden through mutual friends, signed up to be stage manager.

"I used to do a lot of theater," they said. "But because of COVID I haven't done it in three years. This is my first foray back into it."

A bolder approach

"The writing process really was just tapping into my past and thinking about the harmful messages that were given to me growing up," Caden told the Banner-Herald, "that were construed to be godly that actually were traumatic and harmful to me."

Loving God Boldly Together comes at a low point for LGBT acceptance in the United States. The revival of the religious right has led to new restrictions on medical treatment and freedoms for trans people in dozens of states, particularly in the South. Drag performers and trans people in particular have faced political and physical attacks this past year, most recently Saturday's massacre at a gay club in Colorado Springs.

"I think this whole play is just looking at these communities and asking, 'You know, how can we speak to one another better? How can we find community? How do we show up for one another?'" Caden said. "In times of trouble, how do we reconcile hardship and how do we move forward?"

Loving God Boldly Together will show at Cellar Theatre on Nov. 28 and Nov. 29 and at Oconee Street Methodist on Dec. 2 and 3. All shows are free with no reservations required.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: UGA play explores Christianity, LGBT community