Come and join in the play

Blind Man Bartimeaus

Lots of you are watching the play unfold and are getting unheeded promptings to get in touch with us. It is YOU we are calling to get involved.
We are called to experience the Passion of Christ and being part of the play is a great way of doing this.
You can download the play script in PDF or ePub formats. This is still a draft regarding the prayers and so on and feedback from the key actors, but it is basically where we are at.

Caiaphas and his two mates. Be one of them.

We have four speaking parts still to fill (in order of appearance):
1. A Chief Priest. He is with Caiaphas at every scene, plotting and working out the way to save Israel by getting Jesus put to death.
2. The blind man Bartimeaus. He is healed near the beginning of the play as Jesus walks from his joyful welcome at the entrance of Jerusalem along to the Last Supper.
3. Simon of Cyrene. He helps Jesus carry the cross from early in the Way of the Cross up until the crucifixion. This year we would like to add his two sons Alexander and Rufus, using this song as inspiration.
4. Accusing Servants. These take turns making false testimony about Jesus to the Sanhedrin.

Other roles:
1. Apostles. These men accompany Jesus up to the last supper. Then after the betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemene they run away, have a change of costume and then accompany one of the smaller groups of actors.

Simon of Cyrene

2. Women of Jerusalem. These ladies start by praising Jesus as he enters Jerusalem, then watch the trial at the House of Caiaphas, watch the trial by Pontius Pilate, meet Jesus as he nears the Crucifixion and match the final stages.
3. Jewish Guards. These fellows accompany Caiaphas and the Chief Priests and have trials of strength and belligerence with the Roman Soldiers throughout the play.
4. Roman Soldiers. Are in every scene once Jesus is brought in front of Pontius Pilate. Tough and constantly on watch for the difficult Jews.

Support Crew
1. Microphone Runner. The main actors will have a lapel microphone, but all others will be sharing microphones brought to them by a microphone runner.
2. Marshalls. With between 5,000 and 10,000 people we need Marshalls to ensure the crowd are able to see the play and the actors have room to perform each of the scenes. They also ensure safety and other matters on the day.
3. Scene Setters. Props and sets need to be in place before the scene and removed afterwards. The play moves from scene to scene and someone needs to make sure all is ready.
4. Alms Gatherers. In order to distribute the play guides which contain all the scenes and prayers and other vital information, as well as collect donations, we will be having alms gatherers wandering through the crowd with special buckets.

See? Lots of opportunities to be part of the most amazing way to experience the Passion. Think of the bragging rights.

Tales of Past Plays

Being a live play, the Good Friday Passion Play has a great many unscripted parts which make it so much fun to be part of. You can come every year and it will be different yet familiar. A different mix of actors, support crew, crowd, Pauline Fathers and more somehow combine to bring the same story presented in slightly different ways each year.
Here are some tales we gathered from people last year.

The play must go on, technology or not.

Not quite according to plan

As Narrator I had my phone ready with a Rooster cry, but it was Internet based. The moment came to play the sound so I pressed Play. Nothing. My finger stabbed the Play button again. Nothing. And again. Nothing. Internet was dead. "And the cock crew" I announced. Next time it will be better.

Is this for Real?

Often the play can be quite immersive for those watching and they don't want to be part of the problem crowd. They want to be the good guys:
Pilate asked the crowd “Christ or Barrabas?” Everyone cried “Barrabas!” Except one little old lady behind one of the girls playing a Woman of Jerusalem.  “No. I like Jesus.” She said.

The Centurion asking for a volunteer

The previous year some of the crowd were trying to start a counter rally calling for Jesus. This just spurred on the Caiaphas and the High priests to greater effort.

One year someone stole Jesus' sandals.

Another time a crying little old lady tried to rescue Jesus by dragging him under the rope barrier after one if his falls.

There were a number of children behind me at the scourging and I turned to them and reassured them, "They're just acting, you know?" "Yeah" they answered as if they always knew that and added, "Is the blood real?" "No," I answered smiling.
Near Ariel were some other children who said, "They're really cutting into him aren't they?" They would look away and then look back again.

Phew. They're just acting.

The Centurion saw a couple of ladies crying as Jesus was in agony walking the Way of the Cross for all the abuse he had received. He quietly mentioned to them, "They're just acting you know." Between sobs they answered, "We know, but it is just so sad." "OK," replied the Centurion and went back to abusing Jesus and everyone else in a fine centurion voice.

There was a group of people arguing amongst themselves in a foreign language as they waited to visit Jesus' Tomb. Finally one said, "I'll ask them, I'll just ask!" in their language but we could tell that was what it meant, and turned to the Marshalls guarding the tomb and asked, "Was it real blood?" One answered "Of course it was!" and the other said, "No it wasn't". They thought it may have been sheep blood and the Marshall smiled and said, "That would be a little unhygienic. We have someone make this for us as realistic as he can." They agreed it was very realistic indeed.

Happy Ash Wednesday - a short good read

Who would you choose - Christ or Barrabas?
That is the title of the Catholic Truth Society pamphlet written by Daniel A Lord SJ in 1958.

I have converted it to an ePub document to make it easier to read on any Smart Phone, Tablet or computer that read ePub ebooks.

You can get the original in PDF or HTML at the great resource of Catholic Truth Society pamphlets at pamphlets.org.au.

This is a good story providing background for the choice faced by Pilate, Caiaphas, Claudia and others on the original Good Friday. I would not be surprised if Mel Gibson had read this as part his thoughts on his film of the Passion.

Getting into the spirit of the Passion Play - videos!

We are getting close to the start of Lent and Ash Wednesday starts our journey towards Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Over the next few days we will be posting some resources to help you get excited about the part you will play in our part of the preparation - The Good Friday Passion Play.

Today we have videos!

The first one is this video by Karen Lopez of the 2016 Passion Play:

The next video is one we put together of some scenes from the 2017 Passion Play to the powerfully sung version of "Watch the Lamb", sung a capella by David Floyd.

This year we have arranged for an experienced Videographer, Sophie Elvis. You can see an example of her work here, creating a music video for her sister Imogen:

The first email is out. Did you get it?

When you click on Jesus, you'll see the email on a new page!

The first email has been sent inviting people to confirm their roles and calling for more actors and supporters.
If you didn't get it, sign up to the mailing list.
Here it is if you can't wait.