Stefan Smart is an actor and storyteller from Southampton who worships at St Michael’s Church. After 30 years as an English and Drama teacher, he left the classroom to follow his passion for sharing the story of Jesus with people beyond the church.
He now tours the world with his one man show “I am Mark”, performing the Gospel of Mark from memory. He has appeared in churches, cathedrals, conferences, prisons, schools and colleges, enjoyed sell-out performances at the Edinburgh Fringe and his dramatic interpretation is now also being adapted for a film. He tells us how it all began…
How did this start?
When I was 24, I had a dramatic experience of God which changed my perspective. I realised not only that He existed, but that He loved me unconditionally and He loved everybody. I couldn’t stop talking about it. It was an amazing time.
There was also a sense that God was asking me to share this experience and something of God’s love. I didn’t know exactly what that meant but I sensed it involved telling people a story.
I became a teacher and I tried to carry out that sense of calling. It wasn’t always easy in that environment and a full-time job meant there was little time. One day I was reading a story to a class of 14-year-old boys. They were so absorbed that, even when the bell rang, they stayed completely still and listened for the final five minutes.
This was amazing and I wondered if it was something that I could connect with my faith. It dawned on me that I could tell stories from the Bible.
Mark’s Gospel is a fantastic, dramatic story. I started learning it word for word, allowing scripture itself to speak. I tried out a performance on my friends in church. It seemed to go down very well, so I was encouraged.
Where did you put on your first show?
The first show was in Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park and was called ‘Mark in the Park’. I produced a bookmark to give out and took some friends along to chat with people about what they thought about the performance.
I had no idea about what I was letting myself in for. People were all speaking at the same time on their soapboxes and around each speaker, people were heckling and giving them a hard time. It wasn’t a nice atmosphere and quite uncomfortable. There were some quite radical people, and I didn’t feel completely safe either, but I’d come so I thought I had to do it.
I began the performance expecting the worst. Very quickly, some of the hecklers formed a semi-circle around me but what was strange was that the hecklers clearly wanted to interrupt, but they never did. They were really embarrassed, because I wasn’t trying to persuade them. I was simply telling a story. Heckling didn’t fit that scenario and so I didn’t get any interruptions. I noticed one leader putting his thumb up in the air and nodding at me. It was traumatic, but wonderful.
I then decided that I would visit all the speaker’s corners in the UK. I visited places like Lincoln, Nottingham and Bristol. I invited people from local churches to come and support me. It was an opportunity to ask those watching what they thought of the story and then maybe conversations could happen from there.
And now you’ve taken the performance all over the world!
I’ve taken it to various places around the world, in churches, cathedrals, schools, sometimes theatres. I’ve done three runs at the Edinburgh Fringe and it’s been tremendous.
Just before my first Edinburgh run, I met my current director. We decided to make my chair the central feature and now people remember this show, as much as anything, by how my chair is used. My kitchen chair goes with me wherever I go. It’s almost become another character. He’s got his own Facebook page!
The more I perform, the more I realise that it isn’t me that’s doing the work. Every performance feels different to the previous one. Something about the characterisation subtly changes, but I’m not sure why. What I’m hoping to do is open myself to God’s spirit and see what happens.
Until very recently I put a lot of pressure on myself. I used to come away from performances feeling somewhat disappointed if I didn’t get a rush of conversions. I know there were people who became Christians as a result of the performance, but it wasn’t something that happened every day.
Now I’ve come to a greater understanding of God’s work, that he’s always with us, sharing his goodness and his love in every area of our lives. His greatest desire is for us to know him so I can trust that he’s already at work in the lives of everyone who come to a performance. The pressure is no longer on me. My role is simply to offer myself to him and say, ‘Lord, if you can use this to demonstrate your love and your grace to people, then I’m ready.’
This has brought me such joy, such a hope and a renewed faith that this is what I’m meant to be doing. It’s wonderful to think that I’m no longer trying to do this under my own steam, but I’m actually working with God’s grace.
The performance is entertaining and thought-provoking, without pushing or persuading people. It speaks to the heart and gives an open opportunity for conversation in a gentle, non-threatening way. I have a Q&A after each performance and it’s the best bit for me in many ways.
It must be lovely when you hear that people have changed as a result of coming to the show.
All sorts of people come along, some who wouldn’t call themselves Christians, but sometimes they tell you afterwards ‘this really moved me, this changed my perspective’. Christians come too and although they know the story, it often reaches them in deep and unexpected ways. There are often tears. The sense of God’s presence we share together and can feel more like an act of worship rather than a play. It’s more like a prayer. I know from what people say, and even looks on their faces, that something beautiful is happening.
It sounds like your faith has grown as a result of doing this.
I’d read Mark’s Gospel many times before I started learning it, but I didn’t really know it and appreciate what a brilliant story it is.
I think that Mark recorded this story because he wanted to preserve the events of Jesus’ life and ministry, and that he listened and was helped by eyewitnesses who were there at the time. That’s something of the power of telling the story, that I’m recalling eyewitness evidence. I don’t just read it. I play all the parts, and I’m telling it in a way that I imagine it might have originally been told, that there would have been a dramatic element in it.
Most of the people who were listening wouldn’t have been able to read. This would be their way of receiving the story, but they would also be people who were well-versed in scripture. Mark is theologically very rich. It’s full of echoes to the Old Testament. It’s inviting the listener to recognise this is not a one-off story, this has a role in God’s story, which dates to the beginning of creation. To get to know this aspect of Mark’s gospel has been transformative for me in my faith.
There are a lot of people who support me, my wife, and friends from my church, my director, my administrator and other people who I meet on my travels who have a heart for this. I’ve got a prayer group on WhatsApp. It’s got 77 members now and is just wonderful.
What is next for you?
I’d like to carry on performing as long as I possibly can. I’ve noticed recently, even though I’m getting older, the momentum seems to be growing. This summer I’m going to Dallas, where I’m filming on the set that was used by ‘The Chosen’ TV programme and we’re also hoping to film in Israel at some point with the idea to produce a film. I’m quite daunted by the idea, but excited, nevertheless.
I’m also learning and rehearsing for the ‘Acts of the Apostles’ while continuing to perform Mark as well. My first performance of that will be in November and will be the first 12 chapters. I’m calling it ‘Open Heaven’ so 2027 is going to be an interesting year offering both performances.
Is there any particular story of the impact of your drama that sticks in your mind?
I was in Kilmarnock recently and normally at the end of the show, I go off stage in quite a dramatic way and then there’s some quiet music followed by silence and an opportunity for people to reflect on what they’ve seen.
I would normally go forward at the end of that silence to receive some applause if people wanted to give it to me. While I was at the back, I heard God saying, ‘you’ve been asking for an open heaven, I’m about to show you what that’s like.’
The applause was unexpectedly muted and then the minister simply announced it was lunch time. It felt as though the performance hadn’t connected at all.
But what happened during the afternoon blew my mind. In different ways and in different scenarios, four young men became Christians. I thanked God because clearly what I’d heard in the back of the room was real and true, something heavenly was happening despite all appearances.
You can watch part of Stefan’s performance here, or our diocesan Facebook page.
