Christians have long debated the meaning behind all aspects of the Gospels, but there’s one thing everyone can agree on courtesy of Charleston’s own Hunter Gardner: Jesus loved a good drink with his church experience.
This Saturday at Theatre 99 sees the return of Gardner’s one-man show Drinking with Jesus. A coming of age production, Drinking with Jesus explores Gardner’s story as a young man balancing the expectations of the Christian church’s teaching with the demands of downtown Charleston’s party scene.
“I began by free-writing ideas to achieve Drinking with Jesus”, Gardner explains. Like many in the South, Gardner grew up attending church, but he partied hard in college and then hit rock bottom the year after he got out of school. One day he woke up and realized it wasn't fun anymore...and then he remembered church.
“I did return to church after hitting rock bottom, but the problem wasn't applying it—the problem was that I got too into the church, leading me to move to Charleston on what I thought was a holy mission from God to save my childhood best friend.” according to Gardner.
While developing his final thoughts on religion, Gardner went deep into his own soul in an attempt to figure out why he was such a man of extremes in his own life.
Narrated by a Southern, All-American Jesus, the show is composed of character monologues that commentate on the dangers of getting too into the booze or too into the Bible.
While he doesn’t consider it a narrative piece, Gardner enjoys the journey taken to create his show.
Most important to him, however, is the hope that the audience enjoys the fruits of his labors.
“What’s great is that while church life is explored, it’s not a piece attacking religion. In fact, the audience determines the actual meaning for the show themselves”.
So this Saturday, in honor of Jesus, buys your best drinks and watch Drinking with Jesus at 10 pm at Theatre 99. Tickets are $10
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