On stage July 2-19, Lab Theater Project opens a new world premiere tomorrow with The Cross & The Saber. Written by award‑winning playwright Wendy Graf and directed by Owen Robertson, the production imagines a near‑future America where faith, nationalism, and personal conscience collide in unsettling ways.
Graf began the play more than twenty years ago, returning to it as national events shifted. She recalls the moment the story first took shape:
“This play has an interesting history. I first wrote it in 2003 when the Bush presidency was veering toward Christian Evangelism and Nationalism. Then I read an article about a pastor in Minneapolis who quit his Church and started a new congregation because he objected to the growing Christian nationalism and theocracy that was being inserted into the Church.”
When she revisited the script ahead of the 2020 election, the fictional world she had imagined felt increasingly familiar:
“I revised the first scene of Cross but every time I read over it; it appeared my futuristic take had become reality.”
Graf continued updating the play as conversations around AI, political pressure, and civil rights accelerated. The result is a story that feels both speculative and immediate. She hopes audiences will connect the future she imagines with the present they recognize:
“The Cross and the Saber becomes a riveting examination of power, conscience, and what happens when moral conviction meets authoritarian control. What could happen, or what has already happened.”
Director Owen Robertson leads the world premiere with Lab Theater Project’s playwright‑first approach. He describes the discoveries that emerged in rehearsal:
“One of the many joys of working with new work is the ability to have the playwright in the room as we work. At LAB, the playwright is a direct contributor.”
The pace of the production mirrors the urgency of the world it depicts:
“I think this is very much a runaway freight train and that is the pace that we push to show toward.”
Despite the weight of the subject matter, Robertson and the cast worked to find humor through absurdity:
“The entire cast and I have worked very hard to find the humor through absurdity so that our audiences, I hope, are laughing not crying, and perhaps asking themselves as they laugh; why am I laughing?”
Lab Theater Project’s commitment to new work continues to shape its artistic direction. Robertson sees theatre as a vital space for reflection:
“Theatre holds a mirror to society, sometimes we like the reflection and sometimes we are afraid of it, but as a society we must look at it.”
The Cross & The Saber runs July 2-19 at Lab Theater Project. Learn more and buy tickets at https://labtheaterproject.org/
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