←Recommendations of Body + Blood

A brilliant character study that looks at how the church can do better to serve people. This play is filled with beautiful imagery and killer dialogue.

This play is pure poetry, and the beautiful questioning of religion that Joshua's character offers are so poignant to what religion is today. Who gets to decide where "church" is? What kind of parishioner is a "good" parishioner? If all are not welcome at the table, is the table worth sitting at? The language and imagery within this play are magical. Dynamic characters and star vehicles for queer and trans actors!

I'm so glad I was able to witness a reading at the Great Plains Theatre Commons (2022). BODY + BLOOD is a homily unto itself, and one that will follow you out of the room and back into your community. The play delivers a mellifluous ensemble that yearns to answer: How have any of us maintained our faith - in anything, in any form - in this darkening world? (Read it now and find out! *Contains three excellent roles for trans men, in case anyone is seeking particularly suitable material.*)

The community of national & local readers for the 44th annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival enthusiastically recommends BODY + BLOOD as a Semi-Finalist this season at Playwrights Foundation out of 755 plays. We were deeply moved by the artistic merits of the writer's parallels to the style and structure of a traditional passion play. We're compelled by the play's promise, as it explores similarities and differences in the role of ritual in examinations of both faith and gender. We hope this play is widely read, finds dedicated collaborators, and moves swiftly towards production. #BAPF2021

Haunting and moving. Body + Blood is a contemporary retelling of the story of Jesus told with Joshua, a trans priest. The use of the religious text for theatrical purpose and metaphor is genius. Kearns has an acute sense of staging and the ending of this play is thrilling. I was utterly entranced by this play.

Joshua's arc in this play is so beautifully illuminated and Kearns very profoundly explores the complex intersection between Joshua's Christianity and trans identity. His role as a pastor and the parallels and juxtapositions between Joshua in that space vs. the bar serve as an apt extended metaphor for the distinction between faith/Christianity and the church as its own separate entity. Shorter, potent, punctuating scenes are interspersed with longer, ruminating exchanges. The visual and aural landscape Kearns creates is also dynamic, aesthetically distinct, and leaves lots of room for designers and directors to interpret. Beautiful work!

I was lucky enough to be in the room as Shannon was just getting started on this powerful play, and have gotten to read several drafts since—each better than the last. The script is suffused with striking imagery and ritual, deftly tying together Christianity, transness, and sacrifice. Body and Blood is a vitally original meditation on faith and identity that everyone should be reading—and producing!

I really enjoyed the intersectionality of trans life and Christianity that this play explores. I was deeply invested in Joshua's journey. This play has so much heart.