This creative pair tell the stories of biblical women with humor and style. They've played in a variety of venues, from cathedrals to bars.
By JEAN JOHNSON
Published August 9, 2003
Episcopalians Martha Brooks and Dee Terjesen knew each other for years but didn't become close friends until more than a decade ago when Terjesen was asked to put together a biblical sketch for a women's group.
Extrovert that she is, Terjesen decided to play the role of Martha, the sister of Lazarus, who was a close friend of Jesus. When it became apparent that she needed a costume, Terjesen, who was totally inept with a needle, turned to Brooks who was an adept seamstress.
After that portrayal of Martha, Brooks and Terjesen became very much in demand for the performance. When they asked the Rt. Rev. John B. Lipscomb, bishop of the Diocese of Southwest Florida, for permission to take their "show" on the road, he told them to "fly with it."
That was the beginning of "Sister to Sister" about 13 years ago.
"I always felt the Lord had this in mind for us to do," said Brooks, who said they chose the name "Sister to Sister," "because we were learning from our (biblical) sisters of the past and hopefully anyone hearing or seeing us would pass it on to their sisters and brothers."
Born in the mountains of West Virginia, Brooks was a military wife. She has lived in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia and Tampa before she and her husband, Walter, moved to Spring Hill after his retirement eight years ago. She attends St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Spring Hill.
Terjesen, a native Floridian, moved from Miami to Brooksville about 15 years ago. She immediately became active in St. John's Episcopal Church in Brooksville, where she was a member of the Episcopal Church Women, altar guild volunteer, lay reader, and chalice bearer.
Brooks and Terjesen, both 71 and widowed, have separate responsibilities in "Sister to Sister." Terjesen is the creative force; she writes and performs the skits. Brooks is the business manager. She books the shows, collects the money and drives to and from performances.
"I can't find my way through a paper bag,"joked Terjesen.
In addition to the costumes, Brooks also creates whatever props are required. Terjesen writes in long hand; Brooks types the scripts into the computer.
For a long time "Martha" was their only skit, but it soon became apparent they would need a variety of productions.
Returning to the Scriptures for her next skit, Terjesen chose Naomi, the mother of Ruth who committed to stay with her mother-in-law instead of remarrying.
"One thing about Naomi is that it offers lots of Jewish tradition," said Terjesen, whose next "sister" was Joanna. After being healed of evil spirits by Jesus, she became one of his followers and was present at his crucifixion and burial.
Terjesen also portrays the fisherman Peter's wife. Although she's never mentioned by name in the Bible, Terjesen said, it is thought Peter had a wife because he had a mother-in-law and the disciple Paul mentions her in his letters. Terjesen also plays Lydia, a new Testament woman who was a prosperous merchant.
But their repertoire would be incomplete without a skit portraying Eve.
"I think the "Very First Lady' is funny because I do it in Southern dialect," said Terjesen. "It's humorous but still of the Bible. It's got the apple, the snake and everything else.
Another of Terjesen's popular characters is Mrs. Noah.
"It's always funny with a kind of dry humor," she said. "I pull a cell phone out of my bag and call Noah, and using a Jewish accent, I talk about grandpa and Noah says he got a free sample of a little blue pill in the mail."
Terjesen is planning to write a new sketch about Miriam, the sister of Moses. She said she tries to pick women in the Bible who aren't well-known.
"It's great because if I make a mistake, no one can catch me at it," Terjesen said.
Brooks said although Terjesen plays unknown women in the Bible, their ministry is focused on trying to get women to pick up the Bible and read it.
"Dee, of course, makes certain we have everything absolutely true," Terjesen said.
The duo will perform for anyone and everyone who may be interested, including those who have heard so much about their lively and sometimes humorous vignettes.
"Sister to Sister" started playing in front of women's groups in the Episcopal church, but has since played from cathedrals to bars: churches of all denominations, social clubs, men's and women's groups, yacht and country clubs and various charities.
"We've performed in houses and restaurants," said Brooks. "Our smallest group was three ladies and our largest was 500. We've done repeats two or three times and churches in Sarasota are our most prominent repeats."
Audiences still want to see "Martha."
"The Martha skit has grown. It used to be shallow but it has become very, very popular because my portrayal has changed over the years," Terjesen said. "The main thing I brought out lately is it shows the human side of Jesus and before anything else they were friends."
The duo will travel as far south as Marco Island, as far north as Citrus County and easterly to Satellite Beach. Although the longest show is 45 minutes, they try to keep them relatively short.
"Three are (sketches) funny," said Brooks, "because God doesn't expect us to sit around looking solemn all the time."
Joyce Singer, director of Helping Hands Ministry at First Baptist Church in Brooksville, has hosted "Sister to Sister" performances three times at the Naomi Sisters widows group monthly luncheon.
"Sister to Sister" will appear for a fourth time at 12:30 p.m. Sept. 11 when they do Naomi.
"I'm looking forward to that," said Singer, 68. "(Terjesen) is so good. She gets down into the role. You can see it's from her heart. Some, like Mrs. Noah who was never mentioned in the Bible, you know she was there because Noah had sons and there had to be a Mrs. So Terjesen had to come up with a family life for Noah.
