Esther @ Sight and Sound Theatre
As Jim mentioned in his journal entry, Never Alone, we had the pleasure of attending the production of Queen Esther at Sight & Sound Theatre while in Lancaster County, PA. When arriving at the grand entrance, the warm, comforting aroma of glazed almonds filled the room. The facility, simply put, is just beautiful!
If you have not experienced one of the Sight and Sound productions, I will try to do it justice. There is not a bad seat in the auditorium. The entire production is three sided with activity on every side.
In this case, the stages depicted the scenery of Susa during the Persian Empire. You can only imagine the vast array of colors! Unfortunately, photos weren’t allowed during the production, but during intermission we were allowed to take some pictures to give an idea of the beauty of the set.
They even had live animals that walked from the stage down a ramp into the aisles of the auditorium. Because we were seated in the front near the ramp from the stage, there was a time or two when Jim and I thought the horse, and the actor riding on him, might land on us! Fortunately, they were very skilled in directing the horses and continued their journey safely through the auditorium.
I had only recently read about the story of Esther, appropriately found in the book of “Esther” in the Old Testament. Esther, raised as a young Jewish girl, was taken from the only home she knew by the order of the Persian King, Ahasuerus (also known as Xerxes) and ultimately chosen as his queen. In those times, being Jewish could endanger lives, so Esther kept her identity a secret. Until the day when she had to choose between the safety of her life or that of her people. The story of Esther is filled with action, intrigue, courage, and love.
In an effort to not spoil the story for you, I will save the rest for your own reading or viewing. What I can tell you is that it is overwhelmingly touching. We were moved to tears and so inspired by Esther’s story.
In some small way, I was also able to relate to Esther. Telling our story of faith may bring expected and unexpected difficulties, but maybe, just maybe, it touches lives in a way much like Esther’s touched mine. I too, can be courageous in my journey!
As the production concluded, the character Esther ended with the following:
“We hope you’ll be inspired by the courage it takes to remember that God has planted each of us for such a time as this.”
