ACTS tells of the stoning of Steven (said to be the first martyr), and introduces Saul, saying "..witnesses lay there garments at the foot of a young man named Saul."

I use the "stoning" as the opening of my play, ALL THINGS TO ALL MEN..The Life of St. Paul.

Nothing like a scene such as this to grab the audience!  

I also take dramatic license and make Saul the young prosecutor.  In this way, I'm able tro bring the scene to life, making Saul the narrator of the event, keeping it "real", in the "present", rather than talking about what happened, so as to make the audience witnesses.

There is little doubt in my mind that Saul was profoundly moved by Steven, when he forgave his killers, after succumbing to the stoning, just before expiring, after offering his spirit to the Lord Jesus.

For this was the same Jesus, that Saul considered to be a "false prophet", whose followers considered Him to be the Son of God.  What greater blasphmeny could be attached to the Jesus "cult"?

And so, with righteous indignation, Saul became the foremonst perscutor of those who profesed to believe in Jesus as their Lord.

 Returning to my play, once again, I use that dying pronoucement of Steven's to create a moment of doubt as to whether the Jesus faith was simply false, for how could a man die with such grace, while calling out to his Lord?

You'll also note that Paul took a page out of Steven's recounting of the history of the Jews and how its Prohets and Patriarchs all led to the presence of Jesus and why it is that Jesus' teachings was the "way".  Steven first brought out the "known" before proceeding to the "new", as did Paul later in his discourses before his judges.

Another dramatic device I use in my play, shortly after the "stoning", is to have Saul shaken by  the visage of the broken face of Steven, just before departing on his journey to Damascus..paulnbob