On Wednesday, December 21, students in the “Honors College” at MTA (a special honors program the school offers) headed onto buses after morning shiur to see the Off-Broadway play, “Luther on Trial.” The play is in commemoration of the 500 year anniversary since Luther pinned his famous 95 Theses onto the door of the Tower of Wittenberg and subsequently revolutionized the western world with the introduction of Protestantism. The setting is the modern era and the action takes place in the afterworld, with the devil as the prosecutor and Luther’s wife, Katharina Von Bora, as the defendant. Several well-known witnesses, many seemingly having nothing to do with the matter at hand, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Sigmund Freud, are examined and used in the defense or prosecution of Martin Luther. One of the issues that arose, in addition to whether Luther’s doctrines are heresy, was Luther’s conflicting and brash views towards Jews.

The play was very creative in its design and ability to incorporate many facets and time periods of history into an already heated topic. Throughout the play, the students were enthralled by the ideas being presented and the dramatic cast in their intense portrayal of the characters.

“The play was a great way to bring our learning to life,” noted sophomore Ariel Retter. “One of the aspects I love about MTA is the school’s ability to easily take advantage of unique NYC learning experiences.”