An Alberta pro-life supporter has come up with a new and unique way of raising the profile of the pro-life cause, impacting the arts scene and perhaps raising some funds along the way.

Astride Wenigerova-Noga has composed a pro-life play entitled “Is It So?” that is suitable for staging as a dinner theatre-type event. The concept first came to her during the 1990s, but sat in limbo for over a decade, as she believed such a work would not be used. But two years ago, during a board meeting of the Grande Prairie Voice for Life pro-life group, to which she belongs, it was mentioned that a pro-life play would be a good idea. Wenigerova-Noga immediately spoke up about her concept.

“I was concerned because people are not being reached through culture with our message,” she told The Interim. “People who don’t go to church or read a pro-life newspaper go to the theatre. They learn many things – culture always has a deep impact on people’s morality and decisions.”

Wenigerova-Noga, a mother of three, was a director of a children’s theatre and worked in libraries and bookstores in her native Czechoslovakia, before she and her husband fled the country in the wake of the Warsaw Pact invasion in 1968. In Canada, she went about directing Christmas plays and translating two books by C.S. Lewis into Czech. After the fall of communism, she wrote a Christian book for small children. She has received an award for her pro-life efforts from Alberta Pro-Life.

“I’m always involved in politics and because of that, write for a conservative Christian newsletter and its website,” she said. “Christian Solidarity International asked if I would write a paper for them on the Islamicization of Europe.”
The plot of “Is It So?” centres around a young girl named Judy who visits her grandmother just prior to beginning medical school. She tells her grandmother she has to go to the big city for some tests because of “troubles in her stomach.” The grandmother becomes suspicious; in fact, Judy is planning to undergo an abortion. But first, Judy winds up reading her mother’s diary and, in the course of doing so, comes to realize that she is alive because of a decision made in favour of life by one of her ancestors. After an intermission, that truth comes to affect her eventual decision on whether to give birth to the child inside her or not.

The play, with light refreshments being served, was scheduled for its premier at the Church of Christ in Grande Prairie on Nov. 3, with a reprise the next day. Wenigerova-Noga directs and plays a part in the performance, along with her sister-in-law, the church’s pastor, his son and his daughter-in-law. Professional musicians from Calgary, giving freely of their time, were scheduled to provide music.

Wenigerova-Noga is freely offering the text of the play to pro-life groups or individuals who might be interested in staging it in their local areas, possibly as a fundraising vehicle. “I do things for life, so I’m not even asking for postage. I would be glad if people could just do something with it … My heart is to make people aware that it’s here if they want to use it. It won’t cost them anything.”

Wenigerova-Noga can be reached through Grande Prairie Voice for Life, 9613 100 Street, Grande Prairie, Alta., T8V 2L2. Telephone: (780) 538-3344.