Robert A. Johnston, also known as BJ Johnston, will be coming to Cape Girardeau and Jackson to perform a one-man play called “The Life of John Wesley: The Man from Aldersgate”.

Johnston said the production is usually 80 minutes long. He said all of the words in the play are taken directly from the journals of John Wesley, a British cleric. Johnston is a reenactor, or, as he calls himself, a storyteller who worked with a playwright to tell Wesley’s life.

The production is done in the medium of a drama where Johnston brings to life Wesley, who lived from 1703 until 1791, riding more than 250,000 miles on horseback to get spiritual renewal to those who spoke English.

“Wesley talks about his whole life, his life of failure, his life of frustration, of being misunderstood,” Johnston said. “He's got a very compelling life, but he also had some failures and some frustrations. So we take his stories and his words and tell them to share them with the audience and invite them into his life.

In the production, Johnston will share topics such as how his mother’s faith shaped his personal destiny, how to share faith with others in a personal manner — even at gunpoint — the importance of prayer and being a man of "one Book" means never departing from God's Word.

“I have created an imagined memory of these real events, and we tell them as though I were an eyewitness, or in this case, the first person. People are drawn to it, and I think many people see themselves in this play, in some fashion,” Johnston said.

There will be light-hearted moments, fourth-wall breaks, improv, interactive moments and more. Johnston described this as a play about holiness.

“People today are still trying to earn their salvation through work, being good, people giving money through all that stuff,” Johnston said. “It didn't work for Wesley, it won't work for us. And so the play, I think, is very clear, to use that man's story to help people understand that the answer for Wesley is the answer for our faith in Christ."

Johnston will be doing two performances. The first will be a dinner theater at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, at Centenary Methodist Church, 300 N. Ellis St. in Cape Girardeau. Tickets are $10 each, with reservations required.

He will also be doing a special performance at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 22, at Old McKendree Chapel, 4080 Bainbridge Road in Jackson. This performance is open to everyone, and those attending are asked to bring a lawn chair.