As a certified lay speaker in the UM church, I am exploring the possibility of starting a biblical storytelling ministry. I have told biblical stories in the past, from the text and in first-person narrative, and feel the urge to have a more defined ministry.

I started to write about the Bible as Theatre in the mid 1970s.

In 1996 it was Tel Aviv University's turn to host the yearly International Federation (of) Theatre Research conference. I proposed the title Theatre and Holy Script, and later edited the book by the same name (sussex Academic Press 1999), a number of studies in the field. However, and to me not less important, A Bible and Theatre Desert workshop.

* and her hands on the threshold (Judges 19:28) in Hebrew [2000, “Veyadeha al Hassaf”, (Premiere TAU, 2000)

* Meine Schwester, Meine Braut (SOS), a European production, also feminist-oriented (Basel, 1997)

* and, these very days, Die Bibel als Theater (tentative title) at the municipal theatre in Bern, Switzerland; a one woman show to open Feb. 18th 2009.

* The next production is planned for Tel Aviv University's Theatre, towards June 2009.

Soundmapping

Poetics

I am primarily interested in performance-based interpretation of the Book of Revelation (the subject of my doctoral thesis) but have recently expanded my interests to include a wider perspective of performance of Biblical texts more generally and their impact upon audiences and interpretation.

I have studied and taught biblical studies and orality-literacy matters for nearly 50 years. I have many valued colleagues in various disciplines related to these concerns. Werner H. Kelber is a long time friend. My current work focuses on the issues raised by performance criticism, particularly on its interdisciplinary character.

I am current teaching an interdisciplinary course based on the work of Marhall McLuhan, Walter Ong, and John Miles Foley.

An expert in the study of Paul's letters, she published her first book in 1988: The Pauline Churches: A Socio-Historical Study of Institutionalization in the Pauline and Deutero-Pauline Writings (Cambridge University Press). Since that time, Professor MacDonald has continued to publish and develop university courses that pay special attention to the social setting of early Christianity in the Roman Empire. She has also authored a commentary of the deutero-Pauline epistles, Colossians and Ephesians, (Vol. 17 of the New Testament Commentary series, Sacra Pagina, Daniel J. Harrington, S.J. ed. Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 2000) which has received praise for its social-scientific approach.

I work with multi-sectoral projects around the world that all integrate instructional design with the principles and methods of orality.

I know very little about performance criticism, but have heard wonderful things about it's potential in the classroom. 

Participated in the last two years of the NBS scholars forum.  I have been interested in pattern recognition methods that highlight built-in memory methods within oral material written in places such as the Sermon on the Mount (Matthe 5-7) and the ramifications for interpretation of the written text. 

Teatro Sagrado, Proyecto Ruah (Costa Rica)

Last work: "Book of Ruth"

Visit www.youtube.com

Interests: Integration of performance studies and Hebrew Bible studies; preaching as performance.

James has been involved in translation in Africa for more than twenty years. His research interests include performance and translation. Besides numerous journal articles, he is the author of From Orality to Orality: A New Paradigm for Contextual Translation of the Bible (2009).

Dr.  Maxwell’s areas of research interest include New Testament studies, especially literary and rhetorical methodologies; biblical interpretation; and the history of the Christian church. She is currently working on a project designed to encourage discussion about how scripture and culture interact and to encourage the reading of scripture in community.

• The history and archaeology of ancient Israel/Palestine
• The Bible and theology
• Anthropological methods, especially dealing with orality, myth, culture
• The ancient Near Eastern influences that have shaped the development of the Old Testament
• The book of Judges

To enhance my knowledge and skills.

Scribes and scribalism, libraries and archives; oral and written transmission; translation. I work on the transmission and reception of Achaemenid ideologies across the Persian Empire through the media of writing and iconography. Translation and multi-lingualism is an important component of this transmission. In the past I have worked extensively on Chronicles.

Orality and biblical performance criticism

With a background in the fields of ancient history and classical Greek I have a particular interest in how New Testament texts functioned in the ancient Greek and Roman world. In my thesis project I investigate how texts were orally delivered in antiquity and what that implies when it comes to the performance of New Testament writings, the Gospel of John in particular.

Research in Mark.

My teaching interests closely parallel and interweave with my research. I teach a range of courses on the classical texts and religion of ancient and early Judaism, on folklore and popular religion, and on women and the body in Judaism.

teaching and preaching biblical texts

Performance Studies, Theory of Performance, Performance Criticism of Pauline Letters, Ritual

I belong to an oral culture so performance can be a real tool to change the understanding of the Bible in the churches. I want to use this emerging discipline to emplement the concept of reconciliation within my culture.