Faith, Christmas, materialism and coffee collide in Trinity Western University’s presentation of the Canadian comedy Halo. The play, written by Nova Scotia’s Josh MacDonald, is a fictionalized depiction of what happened when an image some perceived to be the face of Christ appeared on the wall of a Tim Hortons in the Maritimes.

Director Lloyd Arnett, who teaches theatre at Trinity Western, said MacDonald’s script features two simultaneous storylines, with one focusing on the media frenzy and ensuing commercialism that follows the image’s appearance and the other covering a local father who needs a true miracle for his daughter.

“One of the interesting things to me about it is that it’s really two plays,” he said. “It deals with certain issues having to do with Christmas, having to do with faith and miracles, but it also deals with our North American commercialism. It’s really two different storylines that run alongside each other and touch from time to time.”

Arnett said those different storylines allow the play to use both humour and drama.

“One is a comedy plot and the other is a very serious plot about a man who is afraid that his daughter, who is in a coma, is dying,” he said. “Those plots run alongside each other, but they treat the same themes, and they come together at the end of the play in a very neat way.”

In some cases, that might make for a tough-to-follow piece, but Arnett said MacDonald’s script cohesively ties the two storylines together.

“The way he blends the two, both contribute to each other,” he said.

Intertwining those two plots in a single production might sound like a difficult task, but Arnett said it actually makes his life easier.

“In some ways it’s simpler,” he said.

“It’s sort of like directing two one-act plays; I direct one group of actors for a while and then work with the others.”

Arnett said his students have done a tremendous job with a complicated play like Halo.

“My bigggest problem is to keep the characters from laughing at each other,” he said. “They’ve been great.”

Halo was first performed in 2000. Since then, it’s quickly made an impact across Canada. The play is studied in Trinity Western’s English courses and Arnett is teaching a Canadian drama class this term, so he said it seemed like a natural fit for a performance. He said it offers a compelling blend of comedy and drama that will appeal to anyone who enjoys theatre.

“It has real stirring themes of Christmas and the miraculous,” he said. “It’s everything you could possibly want in holiday entertainment.”

Halo will be playing at Trinity Western from Nov. 24 until Dec. 5.

Performances take place nightly from Tuesday through Saturday at 8 p.m.; there will also be 2 p.m. matinees on Saturdays. For tickets and further information, visit www.twu.ca/theatre.