The Salvation Army’s “Skeleton Army” play will take place for two more days at Asbury’s Greathouse Theatre. The musical depicts clashes between the early-day Salvationists and the Skeleton Army, a group opposed to the Salvation Army, in London’s East End. It traces the story of Charles Jefferies’ path from leader of the Skeleton Army to a commander within the Salvation Army.
The play will take place on Friday, Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m. and on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 2 p.m.
The musical was written in 2018 by Asbury alum John Copeland and Major Len Ballantine and features only two cast members.
Kyle Higgins plays Charles Jeffries, the protagonist of the play and the leader of the Skeleton Army. His wife, Kathryn Higgins, plays multiple roles throughout the play including a barmaid in the Blind Beggar pub, the Salvation Army officer at Whitechapel Road and Jeffries’ wife.
The play, which originally debuted off-Broadway in 2019, has since become highly requested, with its two-person cast traveling around the country and abroad to perform. The small cast presented a conundrum as the play features a story of two gangs, however, the interaction with the audience makes the cast feel larger.
“It seemed like an impossible task, to write a show about two gangs, essentially,” said Kathryn Higgins in an article by the Salvationist announcing the debut of the play. “The thing that we learned in the rehearsal process was that the third actor is the audience. We needed that give-and-take from the crowd, which made it feel like we had another 50 people in the show.”
Director of The Salvation Army Student Center Major Paul Cain is encouraging students to sit in the front row during the play in order to interact with the cast and play the part of the bar patrons.
In addition to having the opportunity to interact with the cast members during the play, after the performance on Jan. 31 Asbury students can interact with the writer of the play, John Copeland, and director Brad Cain. The talkback will also count as a FLEX credit.
Photo courtesy of Asbury Theatre.
