Duty to Serve

Abstract

Duty to Serve is a solo performance that explores how far a person’s anxiety can spiral when their self-worth is tied to the identity of a perfect god. Through audience interaction, musical offerings, and ritual, the piece examines the cost of equating devotion with value. Set at a Good Samaritan Day event, the audience is cast as nonbelievers awaiting entertainment, food, and, of course, a humorous word from the pastor… when he eventually arrives. In the meantime, they get Carina Sirviente, the church's mousy secretary, put in charge of organizing the event. Fighting through social anxiety and a need to please, Carina finds herself pulled in every direction trying to be a good representative of the Lord. Every mistake sends her into the Anxiety Fog, where escape is reliant on giving a worthy offering to the Lord. With every attempt, the offering’s value must increase until she must choose between giving herself completely or suffering in the Anxiety Fog forever. In the end, Carina is freed by the genuine care of the audience, learning that she never needed this god to know her worth. Inspired by my experience as a Pentecostal Christian, this production reassures those stuck in this cycle that they can walk away, too.