Conversations With My Molester, A Journey We All Should See

Times Square Chronicles
July 24, 2014

http://www.t2conline.com/conversations-with-my-molester-a-journey-we-all-should-see/

Michael Mack

Michael Mack had a Catholic boy dream in the 1960s- to become a priest when he grew up. As a young boy full of light and worship, there was nobody Mack admired more than the church pastor. But all of that changed when the man he had looked up to and trusted sexually abused him when he was 11 years old. What followed were countless years of haunting and devastating pain, until Mack finally resolved to track down his former pastor for a conversation. That is when his story takes a shocking new turn. Now, decades later, Michael Mack shares his experiences and journey on stage in his one-man act:Conversation with My Molester: A Journey of Faith.

Traveling through this play will send you on an emotional journey that stretched over the course Mack’s lifetime. You will feel the wonder and passion for faith that he felt as a boy. You will experience his fear and anxiety that consumes his later years. You will be taken through anger, resentment, and shock… but also compassion, forgiveness and resolve. The intimate space of the Jewel Box Theatre allows Mack to connect with every member of the audience in a truly extraordinary way.

There is one word that accurately describes this play: profound. Mack recounts his memories as if he were giving a sermon, his delivery soulful yet captivating. He has the audience traveling with him through his past and reliving his memories with him. I could feel the fear and anxiety pulse through my veins as Mack recounted how his pastor invited him up to the rectory of the church, shutting the door with a jolt behind him. My stomach churned as Mack revealed how the single word “suck,” haunted him in the years following. And I sat at the edge of my seat stunned as the revelations Mack made in the later decades of his life brought the play to its striking climax.

An Award-winning poet, playwright and actor, Michael Mack invites his audiences to look through a window into the darkest corners of his life. And with his story comes a heartwarming sense of healing and resolution. Mack’s writing and performance commendable, but the most remarkable aspect about this play is his courage; the courage to reveal one’s soul in the manner that he has is truly (as I said before) profound. This play is deeply inspiring and is more than worth the time to see.