(Newswire.net — February 10, 2015) Thomson, Illinois — Audio theater producer Bill Heid says he has a “big idea” – and it’s one that could change how we learn history.
His idea? Reframe history so that it involves not only the “who,” “what,” “when” and “where” but also the backstory – the faith of history’s heroes.
“Everyone has to decide what the most important things in history are,” Heid said, noting that textbooks often don’t recount anything about a person’s faith.
“A lot of the Christian stuff has been scrubbed,” Heid said during the interview on KBIZ out of Ottumwa, Iowa. “For example, George Washington — what was the degree of his faith, and how did that animate and motivate him? I would say it did so very much. We’re not wanting to put more faith into history than was there, but we believe a lot of this stuff was sanitized just in the name of church-state separation. Our culture really doesn’t have a good view of someone like George Washington or even someone like William Wallace.”
Heid’s latest audio theater project, In Freedom’s Cause, tells the story of Wallace, spotlighting his faith in a way that the popular movie Braveheart did not. And unlike Braveheart, In Freedom’s Cause is family friendly and can be enjoyed by children.
Wallace helped lead Scotland to independence from the English around 1300. Heid’s first project, Under Drake’s Flag, told the story of Sir Francis Drake, the first Englishman to circle the globe.
The CDs have been popular among homeschoolers, who view them as a new way to teach children about history, character and virtue.
Wallace, Heid said, made a “transcendent appeal” for freedom, arguing it was a God-given right. That carried over into the English Civil War and the Revolutionary War, where soldiers carried flags that read “appeal to heaven.”
“That’s not something you hear people talking about as much anymore,” Heid said. “It’s gone from our day-to-day discussions. I’m trying to reframe things and get people discussing it again.”
In Freedom’s Cause stars Golden Globe winner Joanne Froggatt (Anna Bates of Downton Abbey), Billy Boyd (Pippin of The Lord Of The Rings), Skandar Keynes (Edmund of The Chronicles of Narnia series), James Cosmo (Campbell, Father Christmas of Braveheart and The Chronicles of Narnia, respectively) and Brian Blessed (Boss Nass and Clayton in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and Tarzan, respectively).
Under Drake’s Flag was named Favorite Audio Drama of 2014 by SchoolhouseReviewCrew.com, a major homeschooling website comprised of 200 families who review products. For more information, visit UnderDrakesFlag.com.
They received high marks from homeschooling expert and curriculum reviewer Cathy Duffy.
“While other publishers have created outstanding audio recordings, both abridged and unabridged, the new presentations from Heirloom Audio are really something special,” Duffy wrote. “The script writers, the sound engineer, the actors, the creator of the musical score, and others involved in making these productions have been involved in major, critically-acclaimed productions, and their expertise shows! These are really top-notch, audio theater experiences as well as an entertaining way to learn some history.”
For more information on In Freedom’s Cause, visit InFreedomsCause.com.