NORTHAMPTON, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- A one-person show about surviving clergy abuse is coming to Western Massachusetts later this month and its performer says what happens after the curtain falls is just as important as the play itself.

“Unreconciled,” written and performed by Jay Sefton, is rooted in his own childhood experience growing up outside of Philadelphia. He said he was cast to play Jesus in an eighth-grade passion play directed by a parish priest who was later defrocked and named in a grand jury report for sexual abuse of minors.

Sefton said he understands why some audiences may hesitate to attend a show on this topic, but said the goal is connection, not shock.

“I think the humor is the thing that surprises people and also the hopefulness,” Sefton explained. “It can be intimidating to come and see a solo show about clergy abuse and so lots of times people come in with a mindset of what that’s supposed to look like.”

He said humor is woven into the production not to minimize the subject, but to make space for its harder moments.

“I think we think of the humor a little bit more as making it a round piece of theater that stands on its own, so you can handle some of the heavier topics when some of the lighter stuff is approached too,” Sefton noted.

Sefton said the performance is designed to extend beyond the stage, creating space for audience members to talk and process what they’ve seen.

“The play is the jumping off point,” Sefton added. “The highlight at the end of the night is the conversation.”

He said those conversations carry weight because childhood sexual abuse is not uncommon.

“The research bears out that one in six men and one in three women have had some sort of childhood sexual abuse experience,” Sefton said. “So there’s going to be a lot of people, if not everybody, sitting in this audience that is either a survivor themselves or knows somebody that is.”

Sefton said the show grew out of anger and pain, but evolved through the creative process into something he is proud to share.

“There’s a line in the play that talks about screaming into the void and that’s how it felt for a long time and it doesn’t feel that way anymore,” Sefton explained. “What was born out of rage, taken through the creative process, is now a joy to perform. I love performing the play. I love the conversations afterwards.”

Sefton also pointed to an ongoing political context for Massachusetts audiences specifically.

“Some of the stuff going on here in Massachusetts is grand jury investigations that aren’t being released for the Archdiocese of Fall River, Worcester, and Springfield,” Sefton added. “So, there’s a political component to it, there’s a call to action.”

He said the July 25 performance may be one of the last opportunities for Western Massachusetts audiences to see the show before it moves on. “I think this is kind of our farewell to the area and the area has treated us well,” Sefton said.

“Unreconciled” plays July 25 at the Academy of Music in Northampton. The performance will include a post-show talkback with trauma experts. For ticket information, visit aomtheatre.com or unreconciledtheplay.com.

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