Mennonite Weekly Review

HARRISONBURG, Va. — It’s a telling sketch. Actor-playwright Ted Swartz plays a college student who comes home and tells his father he decided to change his major from theater to pre-med.

Ted Swartz and longtime acting-writing collaborator Ingrid De Sanctis rehearse a scene from a newer original production, Excellent Trouble, which brings biblical pairs to life. — Photo by Jim Bishop

“I want to become a brain surgeon,” the young man tells his dad.

The father, an avid thespian himself, is devastated. “What in the world are you going to do if this [medical career] doesn’t work out?” he cries, and proceeds to try to talk his son out of such an irrational move.

Swartz, 53, of Harrisonburg, has experienced firsthand the occupational hazards of making a livelihood on stage — the exhausting creative process, giving it your all even if physically ill, being away from family for long stretches, keeping the specter of the starving artist at bay.

But Swartz hasn’t traveled this path alone. From 1987 to 2007, he and his creative partner, Lee Eshleman, the duo known as Ted & Lee, captivated as many as a quarter of a million people across the United States and into Canada, Kenya and Japan with their quirky, dramatic takes on everyday life — through imaginative monologues, sketches and full-length productions, many on biblical themes, always liberally laced with wholesome humor.

Ted & Lee became household names, first in Mennonite circles and then across denominational lines as more people experienced their on-stage presence and performances.

Then, the unthinkable happened.

Ted & Lee were scheduled to perform Live at Jacob’s Ladder, a musical they had written with composer Ken Medema, on May 18-19, 2007, at Eastern Mennonite High School. The show didn’t go on.

On May 17, Eshleman, 43, lost a long struggle with depression and took his life at his Harrisonburg home, leaving his wife, Reagan, and children Nicolas, Sarah and Gabe, extended family members and countless friends and fans around the world.

“To say it was devastating is putting it mildly,” Swartz said. “I lost my business associate, my longtime creative partner and my best friend all at once.”