Susanna and the Preachers

Susanna Wesley was the mother of Charles Wesley who wrote hundreds of Christian hymns and John Wesley who founded the Methodist denomination. This dramatic narrative tells the story of her life. Susanna was a woman before her time. She was an independent thinker; she challenged the establishment time and time again--first as a young woman who discussed theology with noted male theologians in her father's home, then as an adult woman who held "Sunday School" and Christian studies in her home when the local church would not allow a woman to teach in the church. She raised her 19 children, essentially alone, because her husband the Reverend Wesley, spent most of his time in London furthering his career and spending all the income he received as the designated pastor in his village. She was a great Christian woman, teacher, survivor and mother. Might we women of the 21st century follow in her footsteps. This dramatic reading can is designed for simplicity of performance. It can be enhanced;but can be given with minimal costuming and staging. Because the parts are read, actors do not need to have great memories. The reading takes approximately 45 minutes as is. The cover illustration is a watercolor batik painting by the author, Marilyn Hope Lake.