Three young men stand in front of a king who has just told them exactly how he intends to kill them, and they answer him without flinching. Our God can save us, they say. But even if he does not, we will not serve your gods.
That line is roughly two and a half thousand years old, and it has lost none of its force. Next month it will be spoken aloud from a stage in Tuart Hill.
Redemptoris Mater Seminary Perth will next month present Daniel and the Three Young Men in the Blazing Furnace at Servite College Theatre on Thursday 8 and Friday 9 October.
The story from the third chapter of the Book of Daniel sees King Nebuchadnezzar raise a golden statue and order everyone in the empire to fall down and worship it.
Three young Jewish men will not do it – they are, according to Catholic liturgy, Ananias, Misael and Azarias, also known as Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah in Hebrew.
As the story goes, King Nebuchadnezzar has the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and orders them thrown in fully clothed. Then he looks into the flames and counts four.
“The king asks them the question that every one of us is asked sooner or later,” Redemptoris Mater Seminary Vice-Rector Fr Josue Quej Moran said.
“Who is the God who can save you out of my hands? And the three young men do not answer him with an argument. They answer with their lives.”
Fr Josue said the live play re-tells a story about three friends holding a line that not one of them could have held on his own, which is worth saying out loud to a generation that researchers keep describing as isolated.
“Young people today are not asked to bow down in front of a statue on a plain,” Fr Josue said.
“They are asked to bow down in front of what everybody else thinks, in front of what the phone tells them they should want, in front of the fear of being left out.
“The furnace has changed its shape – but it has not gone away,” he said.
Opened in 1994, Redemptoris Mater Seminary Perth is based in Morley and has since seen more than 40 men ordained for Perth and the world.
“The idea of the play began as a way to give some of our young people the opportunity to express their artistic talents,” Fr Josue explained.
“The young people, as well as the seminarians, are not professional performers.
“They are simply doing this to be together and have fun through the arts.
“We have had so much fun in the process of making this play happening. These young people are also helping the seminary by doing this as a fundraiser to help with the ongoing expenses of the seminary.”
Daniel and the Three Young Men in the Blazing Furnace is presented by Redemptoris Mater Seminary Perth on Thursday 8 October and Friday 9 October from 7.30 pm at Servite College. Doors Open at 6.30pm.
Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children, under-fives go free.
Bookings now open via trybooking.com/DPIYY.