2021 - Supporting Roles

Joseph of Aramathea

We have a lot of supporting actors which fill out the Re-enactment and make it a far more immersive and consequential play.

Jesus is the centre of the action, but each of the supporting actors highlight an aspect of all those who were impacted one way or another at that time.

Joseph of Aramathea had the courage at the end to ask Pontius Pilate if he could have the body of Jesus, to bury Him in his personal crypt. Considering he was an important man in the faith, he put much at risk to do this. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the member of the Sanhedrin that met Jesus at night to discuss matters of the faith.

Often the actors who play Joseph and Nicodemus also play the parts of apostles at the start of the play. They are able to gain a little insight into the joy of apparent victory on Palm Sunday, followed by the sadness of the Last Supper and despair at their lack of courage when put to the test at the arrest of Jesus.

Then they see the end of the day with a different perspective of the death of Jesus and standing up by those who were in positions of Authority and risked a lot.

We also have Simon of Cyrene, with his two children Alexander and Rufus.

Simon of Cyrene helping with the Cross

Visiting Jerusalem for the feast, Simon is "volunteered" from the crowd by the Centurion to help Jesus carry the cross.

He carries the cross the rest of the journey with Jesus when he is finally able to rejoin his children and watch the sacrifice of "the lamb".

Consider when watching Simon how it would feel to be associated with a criminal, yet seeing Jesus up close bearing the suffering with the last of His diminishing strength.

We then can think of the relief as Simon is rejoined with his children. 

Women of Jerusalem approach Jesus

Don't weep for me, Women of Jerusalem

The Women of Jerusalem are in many scenes from the start to the end of the Re-enactment. From cheering on Jesus at Palm Sunday, some of them assist as servants in the Last Supper scene, then are involved at the trial by the Sanhedrin as part of the crowd or accusing servants.

During the Way of the Cross they are specifically mentioned as meeting Jesus when he tells them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but rather for yourselves and your children."

Veronica using her veil

And there they all are, weeping.

The Good and Bad thief leading the way of the Cross

He is an innocent man, Pontius!

Claudia watching the proceedings

Servants accusing St Peter

We normally have many women of all ages able to take part as Women of Jerusalem. They are important so we have many costumes. We need them to cheer, accuse, jeer and weep. As part of the crowd in front of Pontius Pilate they call for Barrabas and crucifixion.

That's an emotional roller coaster, especially when you ponder what must have happened during the real events of Good Friday!

Judas entering the Garden to greet Jesus

The Last Supper with 12 apostles

Healing Bartimaeus

The apostles with Jesus

Veronica and her daughters are ready to meet Jesus during the Way of the Cross. She approaches Jesus during a break in the crowd caused by a scuffle between the Roman soldiers and the Temple Guards (again!).

She wipes the face of Jesus with her veil and the face of Jesus is imprinted on the veil (and can still be seen today).

That's an amazing gift Jesus left with us for an act of kindness by a stranger that watched his gruelling march carrying the cross to his crucifixion.

The good and bad thieves get the fun of being whipped and pushed around as they stagger towards their own crucifixions on the right and left of Jesus.

When we have larger crowds, they have a grand old time with the Roman Soldiers "encouraging" them to keep moving.

Then at the end, they get their lines, one ridiculing Jesus and the other defending him and asking Jesus to take the criminal to his kingdom.

This year our good thief really pulled out the emotions and did an amazing performance of grief and petition.

Claudia and her handmaid are with Pontius Pilate and at the end at the crucifixion, with Claudia doing her best to support Pontius doing the right thing.

It is an important part as it explains to the listening crowd the thoughts and situation in which Pontius Pilate finds himself. It is not easy to do the right thing when everything and everyone is conspiring against you.

The accusing servants have an important role pushing St Peter into standing for what he has claimed he would do to Jesus. Yet as Jesus explained to him, before the second cock crow, he would deny Jesus three times.

Judas this year had very short notice (one day) as our regular actor who plays Judas and Barrabas had to attend a family medical emergency.

As the fellow playing Judas told us, it was quite powerful playing Judas as he had to look Jesus in the eye when he was told to "Be quick on your errand", knowing that Jesus knew exactly what he was to do.

And then he again had to look into Jesus' eyes as Jesus said, "Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?"

We always seem to have a challenge getting our complete 12 apostles. A number get "volunteered" on the day to be a follower of Jesus - for the first few scenes at least!

Thank you to all of our apostles.

Seeing Jesus with you all around him brings this part of the Re-enactment to life.

Bartimaeus is played by the same fellow who played the bad thief. When we have the normal large crowds, many of the crowd are surprised that this fellow in costume who had been begging from them moments before, gets called to Jesus, who heals his sight!

They thought he was just another alms collector acting very well!

Thank you to all our actors wth roles big and small. Together the 50 or so actors all combine to form a marvellous whole, enabling participants and observers the chance to immerse themselves into a re-enactment of Good Friday.

Other posts from Easter 2021

2021 - Temple Guards

Temple Guard Captain - not to be trifled with

The temple guards have a simple job - to follow instructions from Caiaphas and the Chief Priests.

This also involves providing security for the Sanhedrin and being on hand as required. They are respected as tough guardians representing the people for Jerusalem through the commands of the Sanhedrin.

In the Re-enactment they are also in most scenes from the initial payment of Judas for betraying Jesus, through to the end as they are part of the insulting of Jesus on the Cross.

Protecting the Chief Priests

We typically have four to six Temple Guards in the play all carrying shields and clubs. They start by guarding the house of Caiaphas when they meet Judas by night.

The Temple Guard captain escorts in Judas and quite happily escorts him back out afterwards.

How hard is to arrest one man?

Who are you looking for? Jesus of Nazareth.

We next see them at the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss and then they attempt to arrest Jesus, but are wary of arresting someone who presents with such authority.

There is a brief fight as St Peter rushes in with his sword to defend his Lord and master, quickly chopping of the ear of Malchus, one of the temple guards.

Jesus stops the fight, heals Malchus, rebukes St Peter and then lets himself be arrested.

What have I said to cause offence?

The journey back to the house of Caiaphas is a rough one for Jesus, as his closest friends and disciples all scatter and the Temple Guards and none too gentle in their transport of him.

Sts Peter and John follow at a distance and negotiate their way into the grounds to see what happens to Jesus.

How dare you talk back to the Chief Priests that way?

During the first attempt to entrap Jesus, the guards are not amused at the replies made to Caiaphas. Jesus reasonably asks what he has said that caused offence, and the guards then beat Jesus and ridicule him.

It's all the Roman's fault

Then they let Jesus continue to be accused and questioned until Jesus finally convicts himself by saying that he is the Christ, answering "I AM".

He gets beaten some more and thrown into the Sanhedrin's prison before being taken to the palace of Pontius Pilate.

The temple Guards get to escort Jesus to Herod's palace and then back to Pilate until finally Pilate is forced to sentence Jesus to death by crucifixion.

Watching the tomb being guarded by the Romans

During the way of the cross, the Temple Guards continue to hurl insults and get in constant scuffles wth the Roman soldiers, butting shields and heads as they make the whole journey a lot less straight forward than it should otherwise be.

The Chief Priests watch on with silent approval, allowing this chaos to continue to show the Romans that getting rid of Jesus is the best move for them to make.

The Centurion Longinus observes all that is happening and realises there is more than meets the eye, making sure that his soldiers keep the troublemaking Jews away from the prisoners.

Being a temple guard is quite a busy - and physical - role in our Re-enactment. We ensure we have some choreography and safety training during the rehearsals and before the play begins to make sure the rough and tumble of the clashes with Jesus, the apostles and the Romans is relatively safe despite the loudness and physical action.

We have a couple of additional strong young lads who have volunteered to join the Temple Guards for the 2022 play. I think we will need to make sure the Romans and Temple Guards get more training!

2021 - Roman Soldiers

The Centurion and Brutus watching the Jews approach.

 

No, you can't come in.

The Roman Soldiers under the leadership of the Centurion, Longinus, are what stands between the hard to govern Jewish people and the Roman occupation forces, led by Pontius Pilate.

They were a professional tough fighting force and stuck together, especially under the regular ostracism of the locals.

The Centurion and his second in command were at the arrest of Jesus and noticing the potential for trouble, hurried back to report to Pilate.

Unsurprisingly, first thing next morning the Jews were at the front demanding to see Pilate with a prisoner in tow.

The Jews did not want to go into Pilate's palace as that would mean they were defiled for the important Passover feast. So they demanded Pilate come out to them.

While Pilate and Caiaphas negotiated and played their battle of wits, the Romans watched carefully, knowing that the powder keg could blow at any moment.

The soldiers were relieved when Pilate sent the troublemakers to Herod, but they soon returned as angry as ever.

Then Pilate tried the "Set a prisoner free for the Passover" gambit, but the wrong criminal was chosen.

Then they were told to scourge the source of all the troubles, this Jesus guy.

Bow down before the pretender king!

The Roman Soldiers let out all their frustrations and cruelty on this pretender King who had caused this disturbance of the peace. They were told to only whip him, but they went overboard and gave Jesus a cloak and a crown of thorns and a heavy scourging.

Once the Centurion and Pilate saw the results they weren't happy and the soldiers were not in the good books of management.

Finally Pilate bowed to the inevitable and agreed for Jesus to be crucified.

We will all go to Calvary.

The Roman Soldiers now had to escort Jesus and two other criminals for the walk from Pilate's Palace to Golgotha just outside the city where crucifixions were done.

All the way they had to keep Jesus moving. Even though Jesus was obviously a strong man, being a carpenter and fit man, he had suffered greatly at the hands of the Temple Guards and the Roman scourging.

Not only was the gradually ebbing strength of Jesus slowing down the procession but the continual interruptions by the crowd and antagonism of the Temple Guards didn't help.

Another clash of force!

Jesus fell three times, was met by his mother, Mary, the Centurion had to get a bystander to step in and help Jesus carry the cross, some local woman, Veronica, stepped up when the guards were distracted and wiped Jesus' face and at another time a whole group of women rushed forward to weep at the feet of Jesus.

This was supposed to be a simple task of marching with the cross up the hill.

Finally they made it to the place of crucifixion and rather than just tying Jesus' hands to the cross, they nailed him on.

Even once the criminals had been raised, the Roman Soldiers still had to be on guard as there were members of the crowd and the Temple authorities hanging around, insulting Jesus and keeping the crowd angry.

Nailed to the cross.

At one point even the criminals on either side of Jesus were arguing with each other about whether Jesus was the messiah or just a pretender.

The Centurion had watched all this from the start to the end and he pondered all these happenings and listened to what Jesus said and how he responded to all the accusations and insults.

And once Jesus had died, he was forced to announce, 'Truly this man was the Son of God."

And blood and water came out of His side.

The Roman Soldiers had more to do. They had to take down the body and carry it to the tomb.

And then with the Chief Priests complaining to Pilate, they had to guard the tomb from the disciples of Jesus - who had all run away!

The Roman Soldiers are a central part to the re-enactment, providing much of the colour and energy once all the talking is over. It is a job for younger and fitter fellows as they need to offset the unruly Temple Guards as well as lift and take down the cross safely and carry Jesus to the tomb.

Thanks to all of our Roman Soldiers!

2021 - Pontius Pilate

Who disturbs the governor?

The first time we see Pilate is when he is roughly called out by the unruly Jewish crowd.

The Roman Guards are holding the line with the Centurion standing beside Pilate, watching for any trouble - more than the usual trouble anyway.

Caiaphas demands Pilate take this Jesus fellow and kill him.

But Pilate is in charge and doesn't like being told what to do. Also, he has an innate sense of Roman justice and these things are supposed to be done properly. This is why he demands to know what charges are brought against Jesus.

He doesn't care that Jesus calls himself the messiah or any other Jewish fairy tale, "Am I a Jew?"

Then he hears that Jesus has been preaching all around Galilee. Aha! That is Herod's jurisdiction.

Happily he sends them away and lets Herod sort it out.

They're back.

Meanwhile, Pilate's wife Claudia had a dream and tells Pilate he should have nothing to do with Jesus.

And downstairs, the Jews return forcing Pilate to deal with Jesus.

But he has a great plan, "Who is the worst criminal murderer that we have in the depths of the prison that not even the Jews would want to see released?"

"That would be Barrabas," replied the Centurion without any pause.

Pilate asks the crowd who they want, Christ or Barrabas. To Pilate's shock, they choose Barrabas. His second attempt failed.

Scourge him but don't kill him!

"I will scourge him and then he will go free!"

Pilate has a new plan which should satisfy his sense of Justice.

Meanwhile, the Roman soldiers exceed their instructions and Jesus is severely scourged and maltreated. But he is not killed.

Jesus is sent back to Pilate's chambers and Claudia caught up with Pilate to strengthen his resolve.

That man is innocent!

"That man is innocent!" cried Claudia.

Pilate goes back to once more go over the state of affairs with Jesus and work out how he might release him.

Pilate tries to shock them by presenting the bloodied and beaten Jesus, "Behold! The man!"

But Caiaphas and the Jews can taste victory. They call for Crucifixion and get the crowd to join them.

Pilate sat down in the judgement seat

Now Pilate is facing a possible insurrection. 

He even coaxes the Jews by asking, "What? Shall I crucify your king?"

And Caiaphas replied, probably mockingly at the the "ruler" of Jerusalem, "We have no king but Caesar."

Now Pilate is backed into a corner. He can't release a self proclaimed king and the Jews are about to revolt - again - if he doesn't condemn him.

Washing his hands he declares, "I am innocent of this man's blood, it is your concern. Centurion, do as they ask."

Can I have the body of Jesus?

But there is still more for Pilate to do. He has Joseph of Aramathea come to him asking for the body.

Surprised that Jesus is dead so soon, he agrees.

Then the Sanhedrin come to him demanding he place guards on the tomb in case Jesus' followers steal the body.

"You now have guards, away with you, make it as secure as you wish."

There is a lot of dialogue to remember in the play and much to and fro between Pilate, Caiaphas and Jesus with instructions to the Centurion.

I think Pilate has mastered the look of disdain for all these troublesome Jews.

2021 - The Sanhedrin

Judas, will you hand him over to us?

Caiaphas and the Chief Priests are in almost every scene from the start to the end of the Re-enactment.

They are annoyed at this man Jesus claiming to be the Messiah, but He is not acting in the way they expect the Messiah to be.

After Jesus overturns the tables in the Temple and enters Jerusalem in triumph they see no other way than to get rid of Him.

In the Re-enactment we begin with Judas being paid his 30 pieces of silver to turn Jesus over to the Sanhedrin.

So Jesus, tell us about your teachings.

Once Jesus is arrested, Caiaphas tries a number of ways to convict him.

First he asks Jesus to convict himself by telling of his teachings. Jesus answers that he has already taught in public, ask those who have heard him.

Caiaphas watches on as Jesus is abused by the guards hoping that might soften him up.

Caiaphas then tries to get witnesses to accuse Jesus, but their stories conflicted and didn't produce the desired result.

Jesus refuses to answer the false testimony.

Caiaphas then gets annoyed and invokes the power of his position as High Priest and commands Jesus, "I adjure you by the living God, are you the Christ?'

Are you the Christ?

Jesus gave an answer that wasn't a denial so Caiaphas continued to push until Jesus answers, "Your own lips have said it. I  AM."

"BLASPHEMY!!"

All the previous failed attempts could now be ignored as Jesus has called himself the name reserved to God.

Now it was just a matter of convincing Rome - Pontius Pilate - to kill Jesus.

It was then a battle of wills to push the reluctant Pilate into killing an innocent man.

Negotiating with occupying Rome.

Pilate tried three times to avoid condemning Jesus, but Caiaphus outmanoeuvred him at each step until Pilate, fearing another uprising of the Jews, gave in and condemned Jesus to death by crucifixion.

The Sanhedrin followed the proceedings all the way to the hill on which Jesus and two other criminals were crucified and justified their decision with mockery of Jesus. After all, if Jesus truly was the messiah, he wouldn't have been so easily killed. 

"He saved others, he cannot save himself!"

So you would destroy the temple and rebuild it in 3 days?

Listen, he is calling on Elijah!

We need guards on his tomb, or else they will say he is risen from the dead

Finally once Jesus had died, they were worried.

They remembered Jesus said he would rise again after three days. So they went to Pilate and demanded guards for the tomb so the disciples of Jesus wouldn't steal the body.

Caiphas and the Chief Priests did a good job with interactions and plotting from the beginning of the play to the end.

Our costume team did a great job in creating new costumes for the Sanhedrin based on quite a bit of research into the clothing of temple officials of the time. The new costumes are lighter and much easier to wear, especially during the variable weather of Easter time and having to walk the 1,500 metres of the play.

2021 - The video

 The video of the Re-enactment of Our Lord's Passion is now here.

It is amazing how much work goes in to properly filming and then compiling the footage from two cameras plus the sound to match the different views. All this was done within 7 days - including a 4 day long weekend!

Our grateful thanks go to the video team at Highlands TV

2021 - The year we could hold the Re-enactment again

In 2020, the year of COVID restrictions, we were unable to hold the Re-enactment of Our Lord's Passion. That was a very different, empty Easter as we could not be part of the traditional Easter Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil Masses.

This year just before Ash Wednesday we discussed the option of running the Re-enactment, but having a very limited crowd in order that the risk of being shut down was reduced.

We decided to go ahead.

This meant a lot of work to gather everyone together, plan the Read Through, Dress Rehearsal and Good Friday, update costumes, come up with a new formula for the blood which didn't attract bees and more. 

We always hire a professional photographer to record the day as a thank you for all our cast and crew so they and others can have good quality memories of the day.

This year, to offset the loss of not being physically present on Good Friday, we also engaged professional video crew to get a high quality video of the day. Rather than just a single camera recording the event, we wanted a video you could share and re-watch. Naturally this takes time to edit and compile, combining the high quality sound, plus shots from two cameras.

The video crew knew we were all eagerly awaiting their results so released a 30 second trailer which is a very effective summary of the Re-enactment. That is at the end of this post.

It was pretty straight forward with all our past cast and crew quickly rejoined us. Then we get the traditional challenges thrown our way to make sure we really want to do the play. Excessive rain had us delay the Dress Rehearsal, illnesses and pregnancies caused last minute changes, but we all got to Good Friday.

We were rewarded with perfect weather and a great re-enactment. As with every year the different mix of cast and crew gave the play a different flavour - another aspect of our remembrance of the Passion.

This was the first year that Peter played Jesus. 4 weeks to learn so many lines and he did an excellent job.

All of our actors and crew were able to quickly come together and successfully compete the re-enactment.

Next year we will have more pilgrims to watch and participate. As it happens we were prudent keeping the numbers low considering that Bluesfest in Northern NSW with it's many thousands of planned visitors and traders and events was cancelled by the NSW Health Department after only one positive test for COVID. As we were a low key event, the risk of us being shut down was very low.

We will be posting more articles going over various aspects of the re-enactment, but for now, here is the 30 second trailer of the Re-enactment.