A conflict between church and state, a battle between love of God and love of country, and an undeniable command from a higher power to obey a calling make up the storyline for the musical “The Call.”

While the musical has many biblical subjects that are addressed, it is not the average Easter musical. “It’s not a typical Passion play,” said Eve Doi, producer and director of the play. “It’s a different way to look at the Easter story.”

The play begins in a small church in Romania led by Pastor Ruben Gabler. Gabler’s daughter, Annya has been dating a young soldier from the Communist government named Alexander.

The Romanian government has had an increasing dislike for the church’s power over the people, and Alexander has been doing everything he can to warn the Gabler family to be cautious with its ministry.

Unfortunately, it comes to the point when anyone who openly confesses to be a follower of Jesus Christ is persecuted.

Alexander tries to help the Gabler family escape from the clutches of the state and, in the process, gets thrown into prison along with Gabler for betraying the government.

Alexander is confused about why Gabler has so much loyalty toward his God and doesn’t understand why people would actually be willing to die for a man who lived 2,000 years ago.

While the two men are in prison together, they have a long discussion about the life of Jesus and why people “take up their cross and follow Him.”

The story ends as Alexander is faced with a decision that will change the rest of his life.

“The musical has been quite a learning experience for the cast members because it has forced us to identify with persecution in a real way,” cast member Erin Burmeister said.

The cast of “The Call” is composed of members of Grand Avenue Baptist Church and Cornerstone Church of Ames. Costumes for the play, which are in the style of 1989 Romanian clothing, were mostly collected from piles of old clothes. The rotating set was designed by Iowa State graduate Mike Despard.

While the music for the production was taken from various Christian artists, the actual story was written by Jeff Wilson, a member of Christ Community Church in Omaha, Neb. After its first performance at Christ Community, the choir was asked to perform again the next year by popular demand.

However, Wilson’s main motive in writing the play was not for pure entertainment. “The question I want people to ask themselves during the musical is: What is it about Jesus that would cause people to follow Him?” said Wilson

Because the making of a musical is a long and tedious process, it is shocking to find out the cast has only been working on the production for two months.

Despite the short preparation time, director Eve Doi is looking forward to what she describes as an “awesome show.”

“What we are presenting is a very professional theatrical production. It’s unthinkable to have this done in the span of two months,” Doi said. “The only way we know we can accomplish it is because God is in it. Because of that, we know we can expect amazing things.”

“The Call” will be performed at the Ames City Auditorium this Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

Tickets are $2 for students and $3 for non-students and will go on sale at the Ames City Auditorium 45 minutes prior to the show. They can also be bought ahead of time at Lemstone Bookstore in Ames.