 Alex Timbers developed the concept and directed the play , while Kyle Jarrow wrote the accompanying book , music , and lyrics . Timbers and Jarrow were classmates together at Yale University . The script for the play is published by Samuel French , Inc . Jarrow was motivated to write the script by what he saw as a shift in religious teachings – from an old model involving hell and retribution , to a new system of thought promising money or peace . Jarrow commented on Timbers ' idea of using children to tell a story about Scientology : " I did a lot of work on cults in college , and what I learned is that they sort of turn you into a child by appealing to that part of you that wants to be taken care of and given answers . And so it all began to make sense to me . " He said Scientology would be " an especially interesting topic for a theater piece " because of its criticism of psychiatry , relative newness compared to Buddhism , Islam , Judaism , and Christianity , and practice of requiring " that the follower take courses which cost significant amounts of money . " 
