Biblical play

Warner LeRoy, adapted from Diego Fabbri's Processo a Gesu

9m, 4f

Exterior bare stage.

Some travelling Jews enter a theatre. They draw lots for roles: thus begins the reenactment of a drama that has been staged nightly since the Crucifixion. Their purpose is to examine why Jews have been persecuted for 2000 years and to fix the blame for the Crucifixion. The indictment accuses Jesus of being subversive in religion and politics. Caiaphas and Pilate testify before the leader's daughter cries halt. She is weary of this nightly repetition and wants to get beneath the law and to see Jesus Himself. The troupe begins to improvise. We meet Mary and Joseph, Peter, John, Thomas and Judas. The first part ends with a general indictment of man: all are guilty. In the second part some of the actors are in the audience and they rise as spectators to comment on the previous scene. Among them are a priest, a rationalist and a woman who reasons with her heart. Every one of us has been found wanting in crisis; every one but Christ.

"A theatrical miracle ... vivid ... hotly alive ... engrossing and provocative!" -The New York Times

FEE: $75 per performance.