Friday, April 18, 2014

The Gospel According to...Matthew Jeffers

Name: Matthew Jeffers

Hometown: Baltimore, MD

Education: B.S- Theatre

Who do you play in The Mysteries?: God

Tell us about The Mysteries: The Mysteries is a tour de force of collaborative art that manages to, over a 6 hour epic, latch itself onto each of the core human emotions.

Describe The Mysteries in three words: Heartbreaking. Harrowing. Hopeful.

What's the wildest costume you wear in The Mysteries?:
A rodin coil with a glowing heart of God!

If you could be anyone from The Bible, who would you be?: Moses (That's actually my Hebrew name! I'm Jewish...)

Which company member is most likely to actually have lived during Biblical times?: Paul Thomas Truitt- I'll be the first to say he look like more of a Moses than I.

Which company member is most likely to be the Messiah?:
Ed Iskandar. Only the Messiah would be able to front something as biblically large as this.

Most likely to become an angel?:
Jaspal Binning. Unflinchingly kind. Very ethereal.

Most likely to hear voices in their head?: A.J Ditty. He plays a better skittish Doubting Thomas than the actual Doubting Thomas did.

Who's the most spiritual?: Kyle Hines. I had a lovely conversation with him about religion recently.

On the 8th day god said_____: I forgot my line...

Are you going to heaven or hell?:
I made heaven...I sure as hell am going to it.

Which of the Seven Deadly Sins are you?: Gluttony. I have a portion control problem. If you put a pizza in front of me, I WILL eat it all.

What's the biggest inside joke at The Mysteries?: I must be out of the loop...I'm not sure if I KNOW an inside joke. Maybe something to do with Eli's scary-real looking fake penis?

What's your favorite moment from The Mysteries?: Besides EVERY angel song...It's hard not to go with Pentecost. The apostles exiting after "All These Things That I've Done" always chokes me up.

What is the most rewarding part about being a member of The Mysteries?:
Unquestionably getting to work with the most kind and talented young artists in America. I'm blessed.

Why should we come see The Mysteries?: It has been a long, challenging process, but I think what we have created is a deeply moving piece of work. When you spend 6 hours in a room with a group of people, you begin to rekindle the conversation of human connection and purpose, two things that have become muddled in our electronic age.