Friday, March 30, 2007
Nazarene passion play reborn
You can feel the electricity the minute you step into the building.
It's the combined excitement of 100 hundred people who have pooled their talent and energies, and brought them to bear upon a play that dramatizes the passion of Jesus Christ.
It is staged in the sanctuary of Coshocton's Church of the Nazarene and will include a total of six performances, three this weekend and three next weekend. It's the play that started, 15 years ago, as "The Day He Wore My Crown," and now returns as "Behold the Lamb." It was missing for a year, but now it's back.
Some of the actors and musicians are rookies; others have been at it for years.
"For the first six years we stayed close to David Clydsdale's original script," said Steve Ward, pastor of the Nazarene Church.
After that, they started "punching up the script," adding music, adding characters, until the production became a thing organic, a work that has a life of its own.
"People love to see it, and we love doing it," said Ward.
It's been a Coshocton mainstay from the first. When circumstances forced cancellation of the 2006 performances, people were plainly disappointed, and some demanded an explanation.
Ward said the thousands of hours of hard work are done each year for several reasons. It's a demonstration of faith and commitment on the part of the people who make it happen. But it's also a source of light for the region.
"It says there is hope," said Ward, "However bad the economy might be, no matter what happens."
The play also has tremendous missionary value.
"It has brought people into our church, who later joined our church," he said. "It has made other people return to their own church they had abandoned."
And, in an increasingly secular age, it tells a story many people have never heard.
"People who perform bring people they work with, church members bring grandchildren, and so on; many people who have never heard the Easter story hear it here for the first time," said Ward.
And for those who have heard the story many times, there is the opportunity to see it happen, with all the tears and tribulation, all the blood and death and resurrection.
Greg Coffman, the production's publicist and trouble-shooter, said, "This is not show business and it's more than art. It's a depiction of a slain and resurrected Christ."
It's also an alternative to all the smut and murder one encounters in an evening of prime time television.
Some people travel a great distance to see this show, and every audience includes some members who have no church, and others who have no faith.
"That's great," said Coffman, "We love to see those people attend. We want everyone to come." And, he said, "When you see the reactions of people in the audience, all the hard work is worth it."
There number of people it takes to pull the play together can only be estimated; one hundred seems a safe number, although two hundred might be closer to the truth. That number includes director Sharon Revennaugh and musical director Sheryl Sharps. Cast Member Jason Pendolah has written an original song, "Oh, Lamb of God," which he will perform.
It's an assembly of dedicated volunteers. It's not just the players and the musicians; it's the people who set the stage, rig the lights, work the video cam, design the costumes and find the props; it's the folks who take tickets and act as parking attendants. It's all the extras who appear on stage and never say a word. And, for a production in which many of the players go straight from work to rehearsal, it's the people who provide food for the players, night after night, under the direction of Violet Durben and Sharon Neff.
It's the combined excitement of 100 hundred people who have pooled their talent and energies, and brought them to bear upon a play that dramatizes the passion of Jesus Christ.
It is staged in the sanctuary of Coshocton's Church of the Nazarene and will include a total of six performances, three this weekend and three next weekend. It's the play that started, 15 years ago, as "The Day He Wore My Crown," and now returns as "Behold the Lamb." It was missing for a year, but now it's back.
Some of the actors and musicians are rookies; others have been at it for years.
"For the first six years we stayed close to David Clydsdale's original script," said Steve Ward, pastor of the Nazarene Church.
After that, they started "punching up the script," adding music, adding characters, until the production became a thing organic, a work that has a life of its own.
"People love to see it, and we love doing it," said Ward.
It's been a Coshocton mainstay from the first. When circumstances forced cancellation of the 2006 performances, people were plainly disappointed, and some demanded an explanation.
Ward said the thousands of hours of hard work are done each year for several reasons. It's a demonstration of faith and commitment on the part of the people who make it happen. But it's also a source of light for the region.
"It says there is hope," said Ward, "However bad the economy might be, no matter what happens."
The play also has tremendous missionary value.
"It has brought people into our church, who later joined our church," he said. "It has made other people return to their own church they had abandoned."
And, in an increasingly secular age, it tells a story many people have never heard.
"People who perform bring people they work with, church members bring grandchildren, and so on; many people who have never heard the Easter story hear it here for the first time," said Ward.
And for those who have heard the story many times, there is the opportunity to see it happen, with all the tears and tribulation, all the blood and death and resurrection.
Greg Coffman, the production's publicist and trouble-shooter, said, "This is not show business and it's more than art. It's a depiction of a slain and resurrected Christ."
It's also an alternative to all the smut and murder one encounters in an evening of prime time television.
Some people travel a great distance to see this show, and every audience includes some members who have no church, and others who have no faith.
"That's great," said Coffman, "We love to see those people attend. We want everyone to come." And, he said, "When you see the reactions of people in the audience, all the hard work is worth it."
There number of people it takes to pull the play together can only be estimated; one hundred seems a safe number, although two hundred might be closer to the truth. That number includes director Sharon Revennaugh and musical director Sheryl Sharps. Cast Member Jason Pendolah has written an original song, "Oh, Lamb of God," which he will perform.
It's an assembly of dedicated volunteers. It's not just the players and the musicians; it's the people who set the stage, rig the lights, work the video cam, design the costumes and find the props; it's the folks who take tickets and act as parking attendants. It's all the extras who appear on stage and never say a word. And, for a production in which many of the players go straight from work to rehearsal, it's the people who provide food for the players, night after night, under the direction of Violet Durben and Sharon Neff.
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