What (a) is a Christian Arts Festival ?, and (b)
What is the point of it ? For answer go to Reading any day from next Wednesday onwards. Reading possesses a Christian Council including all denominations from Roman Catholics to Friends, and it has arranged the Festival " with the object of showing the impact of Christianity on the art of the modem age." Nothing of the kind appears to have been attempted elsewhere, and I find the programme of the Festival really impressive—largely by reason of the extent of the ground it covers. There will be, for example, an exhibition of Contemporary Christian Art at the Art Gallery, the local repertory company will present Gregorio Martinez Sierra's " The Kingdom of God," a local girls' school three of Laurence Housman's " Little Plays of St. Francis," the parishioners of Bucklebury a nativity play, the Earley Players Dorothy M. Sayers' " The Zeal of Thy House " (Bucklebury and Earley are villages near Reading). Robert Speaight will lecture on " The Christian and the Contemporary Theatre " and Martin Browne on " Christian Drama Today." The musical side is particularly strong, with Bach's " Mass in B Minor," a Recital of Church Music, Handel's " Messiah," a carol evening, a Bach Festival Concert and much else. The experiment is worth watching.
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