‘Poor Clare’ Offers Theater for the Soul

Westmont Festival Theatre reimagines the life of Saint Clare of Assisi as if she spoke like a Beverly Hills teenager in Chiara Atik’s “Poor Clare” on Dec. 7-9 at 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. in Porter Theatre. Tickets, which cost $20 for general admission and $12 for students and seniors, may be purchased at westmont.edu/boxoffice. For more information, please contact the box office at (805) 565-7040.

“It's fun and funny, relatable and relevant for our community,” says director Madeline Fanton, artist-scholar in residence at Westmont. “The play asks us to consider our own privilege and how to use the blessings we've been given to help those in need around us.”

Chiara Offreducio, the woman we know as Saint Clare, grew up in Assisi in the 13th century. Through her encounters with the man who becomes Saint Francis and with the homeless in her community, Clare grows in knowledge and compassion, ultimately leaving her family and wealth behind to live humbly.

Fanton hopes the play will open our eyes, like Clare’s, so we can no longer look away from those in need in our midst.

“Maybe Clare’s willingness to sacrifice everything will give us the courage to at least sacrifice something,” Fanton says. “As Clare begins to ask herself, so too the play asks each of us: What will you do with the money, influence and privilege you have been given?”

Fanton, who is teaching Great Literature of the Stage this semester, studied acting at UC Irvine before completing a master’s degree in theater history at CSU Northridge. She is finishing her doctorate in theater and performance studies at UC Santa Barbara.

The production is partnering with Kingdom Causes Inc. in Santa Barbara to facilitate a sock drive. Audience members are asked to bring new, men’s, large, white tube socks that will be distributed to local organizations working with the homeless.