“Eagerheart” is going on tour.  The Christmas mystery play produced by the Southwestern College theatre department and Campus Players as a gift to the community since 1932 will be performed in Winfield and area churches multiple times between Dec. 5 and 13.      

The first “Eagerheart” tour performance will be Saturday night in Corbin at the United Methodist Church at 7:30 p.m.  Other performances include:

• Sunday, Dec. 6—Grace United Methodist Church, Winfield.  10:50 a.m., service.
• Monday, Dec. 7—Tisdale United Methodist Church, Winfield. 7 p.m.
• Wednesday, Dec. 9—Southwestern College, Messenger Recital Hall.  11 a.m.
• Thursday, Dec. 10—Evangelical Free Church, Winfield.  7 p.m.
• Friday, Dec. 11—Central Baptist Church, Winfield.  7 p.m.
• Saturday, Dec. 12—Prairie View United Methodist Church, Atlanta.  6:30 p.m.
• Sunday, Dec. 13—Oxford United Methodist Church, Oxford. 

 “Eagerheart,” by early 20th century playwright A.M. Buckton, celebrates the legend that Christ and the Holy Family travel the earth each year, blessing one deserving home where they rest on Christmas Eve.   Eager Heart and her sisters, Eager Fame and Eager Sense, along with shepherds and Kings of Power, Wisdom, and Love, reveal their understanding of Christ and his teachings.  The search for the Holy Family is tested by beggars seeking food and shelter.  The play challenges and inspires audiences to live by Christ’s teachings throughout the year. 

Buckton wrote and directed “Eagerheart” for the Chalice Well in Glastonbury, England in 1906.  Popularity of the play spread, leading to performances in United States, including one in Winfield in 1915 followed by a 1932 Christmas chapel production at Southwestern College.  That performance by the Southwestern  honorary drama fraternity, the Campus Players, was so successful that the play was staged yearly, becoming a major tradition of not only the Campus Players, but of the college and larger community. 

“For many college alumni and friends, the beautiful story and staging of Eagerheart has become a meaningful part of the Christmas season,” says Roger Moon, director of theatre at Southwestern College.

The history of the play and playwright, however, became lost through the decades because of change of faculty and as a result of a mid-century fire which destroyed the theatre, scripts, sets, costumes, props, and historical information.  

The Campus Players continued their annual performances of “Eagerheart” celebrating their 75th anniversary in 2007, at which time the Kansas production of the now infrequently produced play was discovered by historians of The Chalice Well in Glastonbury.  Knowledge of the history of the play, playwright, and the Chalice Well has enriched the Southwestern College tradition, which has led the Campus Players to tour “Eagerheart” to Kansas area churches in December, followed by the tour to England.  The Campus Players will perform “Eagerheart” six times in England, including at the Glastonbury Town Hall, several Methodist churches in the Oxford, Bath, Brighton, and Canterbury areas, and finally in London at the Royal hospital.

One of the most cherished traditions of the Southwestern College Campus Players annual production of “Eagerheart” will be continued on tour. 

“For decades the Campus Players have chosen a female student, faculty, or staff member to play the role of the beggar woman who later becomes recognized as one the Holy Family, and also use infants of the community as the beggars’ child taken in by Eager Heart,” Moon says.  “Churches and theatres in both Kansas and England are invited to choose a woman and young infant for those roles, bringing to life the importance of the values of ‘Eagerheart.’” 

Design of the “Eagerheart” production has been necessarily simplified to play in any church or theatre, regardless of size. 

Financing of the “Eagerheart” tour has been by the individual actors of the Campus Players production, by Campus Player and college alumni, community supporters, and by free-will offerings and donations at churches and theatres where the play is performed. 

For more information about area “Eagerheart” performances, contact the Southwestern College performing arts office at (620) 229-6272.