←Recommendations of An Awkward Conversation in the Shadow of Mount Moriah

I love love love the idea of a conversation between Abraham and Isaac post near-sacrifice. AN AWKWARD CONVERSATION IN THE SHADOW OF MOUNT MORIAH is a very smart and very funny play by John Bavoso. I was lucky enough to catch the production performed with Fargo Moorhead Community Theatre, and I also listened to it with Gather by the Ghostlight.

A brilliant two hander, taking a biblical story, asking what happened immediately after and dealing with it by using modern dialogue! I'm amazed at what unique and clever stories playwrights keep coming up with and this is a fine example. Treat yourself to reading or watching this play, it's great!

I absolutely LOVED this awkward conversation and kick myself for not having thought of it already. Although after reading this, there's no way I could have done this the justice that John Bavoso has. We need more Bible followups like this to provide a counterpoint to the sometimes gruesome events of the "holy" book. Get to work John!

I heard this performed on Gather by the Ghost Light, and it is awesome. As a recovering Catholic, I’m always interested in biblical stories (and in fact am writing about Abraham and Isaac myself, but couched in a different kind of play). I appreciate a comic take on this moment, as well as the idea of forgiveness coming into play. We hear a lot about traumatic stories, but we rarely hear about forgiveness in those same stories. This is a great take on an old story and an update that deserves a look. Highly recommended!

How do you reconcile with the father who almost murdered ... excuse me, sacrificed you? That's the premise of this warm and surprisingly comic play. Isaac and Abraham are both men in enormous pain who work their way through to reconciliation. This is a play of enormous wisdom, tenderness, and wit.

I produced an audio version of this play on the GATHER BY THE GHOST LIGHT radio theater podcast. Bavoso has brilliantly captured what the awkward conversation between Abraham and Isaac would've been like on their 3-day walk home from Mount Moriah in his own comedic way. There are plenty of laugh out loud moments as well as touching fatherly moments blended in. Very well done, Mr. Bavoso!

Unexpected tenderness and understanding between father-and-son in a modern comic spin on a Biblical story -- another one-of-a-kind play by Bavoso. I can see this as Best Play at any festival. This play is a perfect example of a ten-minute play - in structure, emotional-plotting, character development - just wow.

Consistently funny, sweetly tender and vulnerable at times, this skilled imagining of an unsettling bible story is a real delight.

What is worth defying God for? Bavoso is amazing. Instead of taking what could easily be a one-joke premise stretched out to ten minutes, he adds an insane amount of BEAUTIFUL layers to one of the most "extra" Sunday School stories. We chuckle at the thought of the awkward conversation, but the surprising heartfelt words both said and unsaid are moving, funny, and eye-opening, as son and father truly see one another for the first time. This is a stellar short play.

Boy, oh boy, did I enjoy this disarming and witty father-son piece about what happens when Abraham and Isaac have to get home after...well, after what famously *almost* happened in the Bible *didn't* happen. Isaac's mouthy and unremarkably gay outrage is a freakin' joy to behold, and Abraham's desire to connect with his growing stranger of a son is beautiful and sweet. There are throwaway lines here that sparkle with such wit I want to quote them -- but won't, so they can slap an unexpected laugh out of you, too. Charming and winning and delightful.