Ohio Dominican Presents "Haunted by God: The Life of Dorothy Day"

February 28, 2005

COLUMBUS, OH - A unique live theatre performance, "Haunted by God: The Life of Dorothy Day" will be performed by Lisa Wagner at Ohio Dominican University on Monday, March 21at 7:30 p.m.

Lisa Wagner

"Haunted by God" is a 90-minute, one-person play about the co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement, Dorothy Day (1897-1980). Day, along with Peter Maurin, founded the movement in 1933 to care for the homeless and hungry. She converted to Catholicism in 1930 and spent 47 years caring for the poor and leading the Catholic Church towards a more active concern for the needy. Today there are over 100 Catholic Worker houses in the United States and around the world, including communities in Oxford, England and Toronto, Canada.

This dramatic portrait follows Day from her days as a 17-year-old Greenwich Village bohemian, through her middle years as a social activist and journalist, to her later years as a mature teacher. She is known as the "Mother of the Peace Movement" in the United States and has influenced such American peacemakers as Daniel Berrigan and Michael Harrington. Day has been called "the most significant, interesting and influential person in the history of the American Catholic Church," and is being considered for canonization by the Catholic Church.

Wagner's early years were similar to those of Dorothy Day. Being somewhat conventional, she attended a youth retreat, where she realized how faith should be an essential part of daily life. Discovering her passion for performance, Wagner auditioned for the performance theatre, Call to Action. She was asked to join the Haunted by God tour, and co-founded the Still Point Theatre Collective, a group of actors, writers, directors and musicians, all dedicated to the concept of ministry through performance. Haunted by God is one of several plays the group performs, including Walking With Them, Lily, Mazel and Points of Arrival.

"Haunted by God" was co-written by Wagner, Paul Amandes, and Robert McClory. Directed by Virginia Smith, with costume and set design by Daniel Ostling, this acclaimed production has been touring the U.S. since May 1990 and toured Europe in February and March of 1994. In 1999, "Haunted by God" was performed at the Parliament of World Religions in Cape Town, South Africa.

The performance is free and open to the public, and will take place in The Little Theatre on the second floor of Erskine Hall, on ODU's main campus, 1216 Sunbury Road. For more information about this event, contact Sr. Catherine Colby, Director of the Center for Dominican Studies at 251-4722 or email colbyc@ohiodominican.edu. The event is co-sponsored by Ohio Dominican University's Office of Academic Affairs and The Center for Dominican Studies, in cooperation with Chicago's Still Point Theatre Collective.

Ohio Dominican University's Center for Dominican Studies was established through a generous gift by the Congregation of Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs. The Mission of the Center is to promote the Dominican charism of preaching; to provide opportunities for members of the University and the community to understand and experience the meaning and value of Dominican education; and to serve as a public voice at the University and in the community regarding issues of importance to church, culture and society. The Center focuses on the Dominican motto: "To contemplate truth and share with others the fruits of this contemplation" and the four pillars of Dominican life: study, prayer, community and ministry.