Acting as the Pope: Teen Wins Praise for Portrayal of John Paul II

Peter portrayed the beloved pontiff, complete with costume and Polish accent

The son of Judith Costello and David Brown, Peter studied hundreds of books, websites, videos and manuscripts about the Pope, Polish Solidarity leader (and later president) Lech Walesa, and the brutal Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. "We figure this project took over 500 hours of work and it was done after school and on his own time," Costello said of her son's initiative. "It was a totally independent project. Peter's annotated bibliography is 32 pages long. We are impressed!"

P>HUNTINGTON, IN (Catholic Online) - When it came time to choose a topic for a local National History Day competition that was to be held earlier this year, 15-year-old Peter Brown did what many young persons in his position would do and selected his favorite historical hero.

Peter, now a sophomore at Moriarty High School in rural New Mexico, decided to focus his yearlong research project on the late Pope John Paul II and his role in ending communist rule in Eastern Europe.

Given that National History Day is a secular academic program, going with a religious figure was a risky move. "I knew my choice of a religious figure meant that my project might not be well received by some judges," Peter recalled in a recent interview. "But I didn't do it to win, although that would have been nice. I did it because if I'm going to spend a year of my life on a project, it had better be something I'm interested in!"

What resulted from his immense research and preparation was a 10-minute stage presentation in which young Peter portrayed the beloved pontiff, complete with costume and Polish accent, as he discussed his life and involvement in opposing communist oppression in Poland and across the European continent.

What also resulted is that Peter's performance won praise and admiration even from some unexpected sources - so much so that he took first place at regional and state competitions and thereby qualified for the NHD national competition held in June at the University of Maryland.

The son of Judith Costello and David Brown, Peter studied hundreds of books, websites, videos and manuscripts about the Pope, Polish Solidarity leader (and later president) Lech Walesa, and the brutal Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

"We figure this project took over 500 hours of work and it was done after school and on his own time," Costello said of her son's initiative. "It was a totally independent project. Peter's annotated bibliography is 32 pages long. We are impressed!"

For his research, Peter, an altar server and now a lector at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Moriarty, contacted some famous authorities to get firsthand, primary-source material, including Catholic author George Weigel, philosopher Michael Novak, Callista Gingrich, and John O'Sullivan of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Peter particularly seemed to enjoy speaking with O'Sullivan, a onetime policy writer and speechwriter for Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of England.

"Mr. O'Sullivan lives in Prague [in the Czech Republic] so there is a big time difference," said the young papal portrayer. "I called him several times, and it was always after midnight his time. Mr. O'Sullivan speaks with a British accent, and he said several times, 'Oh Peter. I'm so sorry but I can't talk now. I have company.' I liked listening to his voice. We finally talked for about twenty minutes and he told me more about the connection between Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and the Pope" - the three world leaders who are widely recognized as playing pivotal roles in bringing down the Soviet Union.

The theme for the 2011 NHD competition was "Debate and Diplomacy." Projects could be presented as a documentary, performance, exhibit, paper, or website. Performances were limited to 10 minutes - which presented a real challenge for Peter. How does one condense such a compelling and multifaceted story into such a brief window?

"That was the hardest part of this project," Peter admitted. "I kept having to cut more and more and I still ended up talking fast in my performance in order to get lots of information in it."

There were some highs and lows along the way. One area teacher who critiqued many performances for student presenters prior to the competitions kept interrupting Peter and was openly dismissive of the religious content of his topic. Yet in a performance for 40 teachers at a local public high school, he received a standing ovation. One teacher even said the performance had inspired him to pray for the intercession of Pope John Paul II.

Nevertheless, when it came time for the actual competitions, Peter's performance impressed judges. In early March, he won the NHD Regional Competition held at Menaul School in Albuquerque. Impressed by his presentation and his thorough research, one judge said in complimenting him: "You say these experts challenged your thinking. Well, I want you to know that you have challenged my thinking, too!"

Next up was the NHD State Competition at Albuquerque's Hispanic Cultural Center. Peter, armed with his simple but clever props and dressed in his cassock, was awarded first place once again.

To hone his presentation, Peter performed it for small parish groups and a few dozen pilgrims on a Walk for Vocations. One of the pilgrims, a college professor, told him it was "an amazingly polished presentation." Peter's pastor even gave a DVD copy of his performance to Archbishop Michael Sheehan of Santa Fe, who offered his own encouragement and spoke with Peter about his upcoming Confirmation. "Son, I have a job for you, and you won't ever have to worry about getting laid off!" the archbishop said, hinting at a priestly vocation.

Finally, at the NHD National Competition in June, Peter and 3,000 other state winners traveled to Maryland to compete again. Despite a solid performance before a panel of amiable judges, Peter finished fourth in his semifinal room and barely missed the cut for the finals. Still, he had an impressive run and finished near the top tier in the national contest - and was able to communicate the pope's story to a wide audience.

"It was an awesome experience to do this performance as Pope John Paul," Peter said. "He was very inspiring and his role as Pope during the Cold War had a big impact."

It will be difficult to top his success with the Pope project, but Peter is already hard at work on his next independent history project: This time around, he is researching the Hungarian Revolution.

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Gerald Korson (gmkorson@gmail.com) has been a Catholic editor and journalist for more than 28 years.

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