“Ruth: A Story of Redemption”

Ruth is easily one of my favorite books of the Bible. The story of how Naomi and her Moabite daughter-in-law, Ruth, were redeemed by their kinsman, Boaz, is a wonderful foreshadowing of the salvation of all who accept Jesus Christ. There are depths to this very short book that still can’t be plumbed even after repeated study.

I’m currently reading a novel based on Ruth titled, “In the Field of Grace,” by Tessa Afshar, which I’m enjoying quite a bit. I’ll be writing a review in a couple of weeks.

Last year, I wrote the review below for Amazon of “Ruth: A Story of Redemption,” a 2005-2006 production of the Sight and Sound Theatre in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, available in DVD format. Instead of wasting your time on another dumb television show, treat yourself and be entertained and inspired by this delightful Bible story.

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“Ruth: A Story of Redemption”

This past summer, some friends invited my wife and I to take a trip to Lancaster, PA to see a performance of “Moses” at the Sight and Sound Theatres complex and we were thoroughly impressed. After the show I happened to see the DVD of one of the theater’s previous productions, “Ruth: A Story of Redemption,” for sale at the gift shop but I opted not to purchase it at the time and it’s been on my “must buy” list ever since. This week I spotted the DVD at a local Christian book store and finally grabbed it.

This DVD captures one of the live performances of Ruth which was featured at the Millennium Theatre at Sight and Sound from 2005 through 2006. The leads are Dina Hamilton as Naomi, Leslie Talley as Ruth, and David Felty as Boaz. All three actors give strong performances. I’m not a big fan of musicals but I actually enjoyed all of the songs. God is praised and honored from start to finish of this production. I was following along and thanking the Lord from the bottom of my heart for rescuing me and being my Kinsman-Redeemer. Writer, Jeff Bender, added story elements that are reasonable and often illuminating.

The sound, camera work, and editing for this DVD presentation are top notch although the picture definition could have been a tad crisper. But overall, I’m very, very pleased. For a little more than $20, the viewer has the absolute best seat in the house. There’s not much in the way of bonus features but there is a nice “featurette” comprised of interviews with the writer and lead actors.

If you’ve never seen a show at Sight and Sound in Lancaster or Branson, MO, I highly recommend you to do so. You won’t be disappointed. But DVDs of the S&S productions are economical, entertaining, and inspirational alternatives. In some respects (like the constant close-ups of the leads) it’s even better than being there. Ruth was the very first Sight and Sound production to be made available on DVD. Other DVDs available from Sight & Sound include “In the Beginning” (2007-2009), “Joseph” (2010-2011), “Jonah” (2012), and “Noah” (2013).

To visit the Sight and Sound web site, see here.

To order “Ruth” from Amazon, see here.