Passion Play (Ruhl)

Passion Play (Ruhl)

Passion Play (Ruhl)

Passion Play (Ruhl)

Overview

Hailed by The New Yorker’s John Lahr as “extraordinary,” “bold,” and “inventive,” Sarah Ruhl’s Passion Play takes us behind the scenes of three very different communities attempting to stage the death and resurrection of Christ. 

This intimate epic occurs at the timely intersection of politics and religion. Ruhl dramatizes a community of players rehearsing their annual staging of the Easter Passion in three different eras: 1575 Northern England, just before Queen Elizabeth outlaws the ritual; 1934 Oberammergau, Bavaria, as Hitler is rising to power; and Spearfish, South Dakota, from the time of Vietnam through Reagan’s presidency. In each period, the players grapple with the transformative nature of art, and politics are never far in the background.

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Cautions

  • Caution Mild Adult Mild Adult Themes

Details

  • Genre: Period, Docudrama/Historic, Faith-based
  • Time Period: Present Day, 1980s, 1940s / WWII, 16th Century / Elizabethan
  • Cast Attributes: Ensemble cast, Reduced casting (Doubling Possible), Flexible cast size
  • Target Audience: Adult

Authors

Sarah Ruhl

Sarah Ruhl’s plays include In the Next Room, or the vibrator play, The Clean House, Passion Play, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Melancholy Play, For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday, The Oldest Boy, Stage Kiss, Dear Elizabeth, Eurydice, How to Transcend a Happy Marriage, Orlando, Late ...

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