Passion Play
[1] Passion Plays have had a long and complex history involving faith and devotion, civic pageantry, religious and political censorship, large-scale revival and historical re-enactments.
The origin and development of Passion Plays in the UK can be traced back to one of the earliest pieces of theatre in Britain, which was the Quem Quaeritis: four lines spoken by two choirs addressing each other in a dramatic form.
The Benedictbeurn Passion Play (thirteenth century) is still largely composed of Latin ritual sentences in prose and of church hymns, and, being designed to be sung, resembles an oratorio.
The Vienna Passion embraces the entire history of the Redemption, and begins with the revolt and fall of Lucifer; the play, as transmitted to us, ends with Jesus and his Twelve Apostles sitting at the Last Supper.
Connected with this group are the Eger, the Donaueschingen, Augsburg, Freising and Lucerne Passion Plays, in which the whole world drama, beginning with the creation of man and brought down to the coming of the Holy Ghost, is exhibited, and which was produced with great splendour as late as 1583.
The magnificent productions of the Passion Plays during the fifteenth century are closely connected with the growth and increasing self-confidence of the cities, which found its expression in noble buildings, ecclesiastical and municipal, and in gorgeous public festivals.
When, in the 17th century the Jesuit drama arose, the Passion Plays (still largely secularized) were relegated to out-of-the-way villages and to the monasteries, particularly in Bavaria and Austria.
Towards the end of the eighteenth century, during the Age of Enlightenment, efforts were made in Catholic Germany, particularly in Bavaria and the Tyrol, to destroy even the remnants of the tradition of medieval plays.
[citation needed][15] Since then, Brixlegg and Vorderthiersee in Tyrol and Horice na Sumave, near Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic, and above all, the Oberammergau in Upper Bavaria attract thousands to their plays.
The text of the play of Vorderthiersee (Gespiel in der Vorderen Thiersee) dates from the second half of the seventeenth century, is entirely in verse, and comprises in five acts the events recorded in the Gospel, from the Last Supper to the Entombment.
In 2010, about half the inhabitants of Oberammergau took part in the once-a-decade Passion Play; over 2,000 villagers brought the story of Jesus of Nazareth to life for audiences that flocked in from around the world.
[citation needed] The Passion of Christ is performed in Sordevolo (Piedmont) every five years since 1816, from June to September, by all the inhabitants of the village in an open-air amphitheatre 4,000 square meters wide, of 2,400 seats under cover.
The Passion of the Christ is performed every year during Easter, in a purpose-built 100,000-square-metre (1,100,000 sq ft) theatre-city in the arid backlands of Pernambuco, in northeastern Brazil.
[20] Thousands of visitors arrive every year to watch the performance; over 500 actors appear on the nine separate stages within the stone walls of the New Jerusalem city-theatre, founded in 1968.
During 8 performances during the Holy Week, an average of 8,000 people per show from around the globe follow the actors as they move through "ancient Jerusalem", portraying every step of the Passion of Christ.
[24][25] In the 2010 season, when the 43rd anniversary of the Passion of Christ in Nova Jerusalem was celebrated, the public reached a record 80,000 people, coming from 22 Brazilian states and 12 countries.
The predominantly Catholic Philippines has Passion Plays called Senákulo, named after the Upper room, every Semana Santa (Holy Week).
Costumes and scenery in traditional Senákulo conform to Hispanic iconography instead of actual historical realism, which is more common with recent productions (particularly by professional companies).
[43] In Catalonia, it is common for villages to present different Passion Plays every Easter, like the ones in Esparreguera, Olesa de Montserrat, Ulldecona or Cervera, first documented in 1538.
[44] The earliest Passion Plays in Sri Lanka, at Vanny in Mannar, Pesalai, Pamanugama, Mutuwal, Pallansena, Kalamulla, Duwa and Pitipana in Negombo, used life-size statues instead of living actors.
[54] Passion Plays have taken place all over the UK[55] and between 20 and 30 plays are performed each year in locations such as Aberdeen, Abingdon, Alresford, Ballylinan, Bangor, Bath, Bedford, Belper, Beverley, Bewdley, Birmingham, Bishop Auckland, Bolton, Brentor, Brighton, Carlisle, Chester, Chinnor, Cowbridge, Crewe, Devizes, Duddingston Kirk, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Great Waltham, Guildford, Hamilton, Heworth, Hornchurch, Horsham, Hucknall, Kendal, Leominster, Lewes, Lincoln, Liverpool, Lytham, Norwich, Maidstone, Manchester, New Malden, Nuneaton, Oxford, Poole, Port Talbort, Preston, Redditch, Richmond, Settle, Shrewsbury, Southampton, South Woodham Ferrers, Spelthorne, St Neots, Tonbridge, Trafalgar Square, West Bridgford, Winterbourne, Wirral, Withensea, Wokingham, Woodstock, Worcester, Yeovil, York.
[78] The Christian Science Monitor, in its article, Capturing the Passion, explains that "historically, productions have reflected negative images of Jews and the long-time church teaching that the Jewish people were collectively responsible for Jesus' death.
It utilizes juxtaposition between pure Christians and wicked Jews in order to portray a greater battle between fundamental good versus evil.
[83] In 1965, a Vatican declaration titled Nostra Aetate held that the crucifixion could not be blamed on the Jewish people, whether they were living in the first century or born after the death of Christ.
One was a column by Paul Weyrich, a conservative Christian leader and head of the Free Congress Foundation, who argued that "Christ was crucified by the Jews."
[87] Furthermore, the Bible alludes to the complex political, social and religious reasons that led both Roman and Jewish people to demand that Jesus be crucified.
[88] Modern Passion Plays are supported in their endeavour to address historical prejudices and crimes against Jewish people by the work of many organisations that seek (Christian-Jewish Reconciliation).
[90] A recent statement on the website of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding & Cooperation (CJCUC) in Israel is described by Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz as 'the most profoundly Jewish-centered interfaith documents ever to be released'.
[91] Writing in the Huff Post, he quotes its opening lines "We seek to do the will of our Father in Heaven by accepting the hand offered to us by our Christian brothers and sisters.
A spiritual energy, stronger and more attentive to cultural elaboration, a more evident solidarity in order to be recognised as bearers of hope, to help the people and communities grow.
