What happens when an atheist and a solid Christian fall in love and get married? (No, this is not a set up for a bad joke, though for Alex Miller, it did end up on paper as comedy.) At first, it may cause plenty of curiosity about each other's belief systems, and if the couple stays together, it becomes nothing short of a miracle.

And from the union might just spring a creation, in the form of, let's say, a play — if the husband happens to be a writer like Miller.

Miller, the managing editor of the Summit Daily News, has a wide creative writing streak that ranges in topic from zombies sucking eyeballs out of humans to people of vastly different beliefs living in harmony. The common denominator lies in his skillful scenes and overall humorous rendering.

“His dialogue is extremely witty,” said Christopher Alleman, who accepted Miller's script to present at the Lake Dillon Theatre. “I loved the premise; it's extremely topical, given today's volatility in religious (groups) that's sweeping over the country.”

Miller's play, “Miraculosity,” follows Ted, an out-of-work software programmer and atheist who meets Nina, a public relations director for her charismatic mega-church. On their first date, the religious clash spins the relationship into automatic no-go mode, but when Nina calls Ted into the church to interview for a job writing code to respond to the organization's digital prayer requests, it's game on again. Ted's algorithms not only work “magic” (or is it God?) on the congregation, but also on Nina's heart. Yet, computer programs are much more straightforward than romantic relationships, so Nina and Ted are left a bit afloat to reconcile their spiritual belief systems.

Reading through the process

Since this is Miller's first full two-act play (he's written a number of shorter theater pieces), he wanted to see actors embody the characters. He's been working on the script on and off for several years.

“In my mind, ‘Miraculosity' is still not finished, and one of the goals behind the reading is for me to hear how it sounds and get some feedback from the actors and audience,” Miller said. “My hope is that I'll emerge with some clear ideas about how to finalize the script and that the theater will choose to produce it as part of one of its upcoming seasons.”

Miller's goal aligns with one of the original charters of the Lake Dillon Theatre Company to help foster new works. Alleman said over the past few years they've “gotten away from that and want to steer” more toward giving playwrights the opportunity to hear their plays on stage.

“When writing a script, you have your own voice in your head, and sometimes you can't see the forest through the trees, so it helps when actors breathe life (into the script); you hear when sentences are too long or when (the dialogue) is not the way someone would talk,” Alleman said. “You can judge more from an objective viewpoint.”

Alleman enjoys providing readings “because you never know where the script will go from there,” though he doesn't see Miller changing the comedy in this “because it's very funny,” he said.

Into the heart of it all

Through “Miraculosity,” Miller aims to touch on a subject near and dear to his heart: “the ability of people of different beliefs to work through those and, in the end, get along.”

“There's so much demonization going on these days in the U.S., whether it's right vs. left, rich vs. poor or Christians vs. Muslims or whatever, but much of what comprises those battle is played on a highly visible yet insular playing field in the national media,” Miller said. “In our own interpersonal relations, we can't take those hardened positions; if we did we'd end up all alone in a room somewhere, typing out angry blogs (and OK, some of us are doing that, but it's not very healthy).”

He had his work cut out for him: Not only did he set out to tackle the universal issue of polarization, but also, he looked within his own marriage to fold in part of his personal story.

His wife is a “strong Christian” and he's an atheist, so as he puts it: “I had a great resource in early drafts of the play.”

That said, he also had a marriage to protect.

“In short, Jen had to be OK with the tone of it from the point of view of a Christian,” he said. “Her buy-in was essential for me not only as a playwright but as someone who values his marriage very highly.

“Somewhere in here is the argument that those who don't believe in gods are not bad or immoral people, and that not all Christians hew to the worst stereotypes out there. I hope people have some laughs but also leave the theater talking about how they view ‘the other side,' whoever that is.”