The Body & The Wheel

by William Gibson

Suitable for production in a church, theatre or auditorium, this beautiful and moving work by one of our theatre's most important and successful playwrights illuminates the story of Jesus with dramatic force and true reverence. The dialogue is drawn from the Gospels, and the action follows the fateful flow of events leading up to the crucifixion and the resurrection. Imaginatively constructed and paced with consummate skill, the play, in total, becomes both an exciting theatrical event and, deeply spiritual experience and one which will renew the meaning and relevance of the Christian ethic for audiences and participants alike.

Genres: Plays

72 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

William Gibson was a Tony Award-winning American playwright and novelist. He graduated from the City College of New York in 1938.

Gibson's most famous play is The Miracle Worker (1959), the story of Helen Keller's childhood education, which won him the Tony Award for Best Play after he adapted it from his original 1957 telefilm script. He adapted the work again for the 1962 film version, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay; the same actresses who previously had won Tony Awards for their performances in the stage version, Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke, received Academy Awards for the film version as well.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

“…comes Jesus and in the knowledge that he is the coming Son of Man lays hold of the wheel of the world to set it moving on that last revolution which is to bring all ordinary history to a close. It refuses to turn, and he throws himself upon it. Then it does turn; and crushes him… The wheel rolls onward, and the mangled body of the one immeasurably great Man, who was strong enough to think of himself as the spiritual ruler of mankind and to bend history to his purpose, is hanging upon it still. That is his victory and his reign.”

— Albert Schweitzer, quoted as epitaph to the play “The Body and the Wheel” by William Gibson.