Friday, May 04, 2007
Passion Play a modern drama
If Europe was mostly illiterate, the Passion Play was one of the church's most effective tools to teach the story of Holy Week, from Palm Sunday through Easter.
Last month, 11 Durango-area churches joined to present Passion Play (the musical), which was created for this day and time. Modern music and sound effects such as crickets in the Garden of Gethsemane and thunder and lightning at the time of Jesus' death all added a dramatic touch. The play was a labor of love and effort for the more than 60 people in the cast, the seven singers and a large backstage contingent. Organizers and cast hope to make it an annual tradition, as it is in Denver, where it has been performed each year for the last 20 years.
Mike Warnock, who played Judas Iscariot, said that the 12 weeks of rehearsals and the five-day performance schedule had been powerful and grueling emotionally. At Wednesday's performance at the River Church, he said, there wasn't a dry eye in the cast.
"Every night, selling out - my Lord," he said. "I learned that I'm not above the worst of the worst."
The earliest examples of the play date back to the 1200s, and it reached its heyday in Germany during the 15th century.
The most famous Passion Play has been held once a decade in Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany since 1634. More than 2,000 residents participate, from performers and musicians to stage technicians. The Oberammergau version features tableaux vivants (actors standing still representing scenes from the Bible) as well as the drama and runs about seven hours.
Durango's Passion Play, while not as graphically specific as Mel Gibson's "Passion of Christ" film in 2003, did not stint on Christ's suffering. He bled from the scourging and crown of thorns, and was clearly in agony on the Cross. Many young children in the audience were crying or concerned about Jesus being hurt.
Durango's version of the Passion Play also included the quote from Matthew that the blood of Jesus would be on the hands of the Jews and their children.
That quote has been eliminated in Passion Plays put on by Catholics since the Vatican II Council in the 1960s as it was often used as an excuse for anti-Semitism. Biblical scholars say that while Pilate may have pretended reluctance at crucifying Jesus, only he had the power to do so.
In fact, Pilate ordered more than 150 crucifixions during his time as governor of Israel.
Last month, 11 Durango-area churches joined to present Passion Play (the musical), which was created for this day and time. Modern music and sound effects such as crickets in the Garden of Gethsemane and thunder and lightning at the time of Jesus' death all added a dramatic touch. The play was a labor of love and effort for the more than 60 people in the cast, the seven singers and a large backstage contingent. Organizers and cast hope to make it an annual tradition, as it is in Denver, where it has been performed each year for the last 20 years.
Mike Warnock, who played Judas Iscariot, said that the 12 weeks of rehearsals and the five-day performance schedule had been powerful and grueling emotionally. At Wednesday's performance at the River Church, he said, there wasn't a dry eye in the cast.
"Every night, selling out - my Lord," he said. "I learned that I'm not above the worst of the worst."
The earliest examples of the play date back to the 1200s, and it reached its heyday in Germany during the 15th century.
The most famous Passion Play has been held once a decade in Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany since 1634. More than 2,000 residents participate, from performers and musicians to stage technicians. The Oberammergau version features tableaux vivants (actors standing still representing scenes from the Bible) as well as the drama and runs about seven hours.
Durango's Passion Play, while not as graphically specific as Mel Gibson's "Passion of Christ" film in 2003, did not stint on Christ's suffering. He bled from the scourging and crown of thorns, and was clearly in agony on the Cross. Many young children in the audience were crying or concerned about Jesus being hurt.
Durango's version of the Passion Play also included the quote from Matthew that the blood of Jesus would be on the hands of the Jews and their children.
That quote has been eliminated in Passion Plays put on by Catholics since the Vatican II Council in the 1960s as it was often used as an excuse for anti-Semitism. Biblical scholars say that while Pilate may have pretended reluctance at crucifying Jesus, only he had the power to do so.
In fact, Pilate ordered more than 150 crucifixions during his time as governor of Israel.
Comments:
Post a Comment
