A scene from The

A cowboy confronts a Hindu man about the building of a temple.

It might sound like the start of a joke – except it’s based on real-life events.

It’s one of the stories told in “The Hindu and the Cowboy – and Other Kansas City Stories,” written by Kansas City playwright Donna W. Ziegenhorn. She wrote the play in 2002 based on interviews with 80 people in the Kansas City area.

It tells the stories of people interacting with those outside their faith. Other stories include a Muslim’s encounter with New York firefighters after 9/11, an Auschwitz survivor’s life, and a black pastor and the influence of his formerly enslaved grandmother.

The play will be performed at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Ottawa University Chapel, 1001 S. Cedar St. in Ottawa. The performance, during OU’s chapel service time, is free and open to the public.

It’s the first time the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre has staged the play outside the immediate Kansas City area.

“We just don’t hear a lot, I don’t think, in Ottawa about faith traditions outside of Protestant Christianity,” says Erika Marksbury, OU campus pastor for internal relations. “The play highlights people from various traditions living as neighbors. That’s good for us to hear.”

The performance is one of several during the Kansas City Festival of Faiths, which runs though Nov. 18. For more information on the festival, visit www.festivaloffaithskc.org.