Hallelujah! Jesus heads for town
The 15th ‘Durban Passion Play’, endorsed by Oberammergau, is an ‘epic scale dramatic production’
JESUS is coming to Durban – well, at least in the form of a pair of actors who will be part of one of the most noteworthy global re-enactments of Christ’s life.
The 15th Durban Passion Play, featuring a cast of 150 actors including a 3-year-old, an 86-yearold and those with special needs, will charm audiences this year in a production endorsed by the city of Oberammergau in Germany, which is famous for the Passion Play that was first enacted in 1634.
The Durban Passion Play, at the Playhouse Drama Theatre from March 25-April 12, will feature cast rookie Dale Collings as Jesus appearing alongside Rob Paul, who will reprise his role as the saviour.
The Durban Catholic Players’ Guild, the only organisation outside Germany authorised to perform
The Passion Play, has described the play as an “epic scale dramatic production depicting Jesus’ passion, covering the final period of his life from his visit to Jerusalem, to his execution by crucifixion and ending with the resurrection”.
As believers seek some inspiration for their sacrificial 40 days of Lent, director Derek Griffin hopes the show will be encouraging.
“It’s particularly appropriate that audiences would benefit from the production at this time of year because it’s the season of Lent – leading up to Easter (April 10-13), which is the resurrection of the Christ, so audiences will be looking for an additional spiritual input to their preparations for Easter,” said Griffin.
Griffin and co-director Dawn Haynes have been working on the script and training the large group of diverse actors for more than 18 months.
The sizeable production is voluntary-based and includes all religions, ethnicities, cultures, ages and differently-abled people.
It also has a deep-rooted history in Durban’s famous Greyville Racecourse dating back to the previous millennium.
The first Passion Play outside Germany took place at the racecourse in Durban in 1952, when the mayor and community of Oberammergau in Bavaria granted special permission to the Durban Catholic Players’ Guild to stage a condensed version of their globally acclaimed production.
“The first South African play, enacted at the Greyville Racecourse, was so successful that Durban’s Father Noel Coughlan travelled to Bavaria to gain permission for the Durban version of the play to be staged every five years.
“The Oberammergau village elders willingly obliged, seeing the play as a means of witnessing to the larger population of Southern Africa – Durban would become the ‘Oberammergau of Africa’,” said the guild.
After the theatrical performance taking place at Greyville Racecourse, the Passion Play then moved to the city hall until 1997 and, since then, the play has been successfully staged every five years in Durban for the past 64 years, with more recent productions taking place at the Playhouse.
This year, the mayor of Oberammergau is expected to make an appearance at the theatre in honour of the play.
Make preparations to see the play locally before you jet off for national family visits this Easter, because you don’t want to miss it. The monopoly that the Durban Catholic Players’ Guild has on the production through its licence from the Oberammergau Passion Play organisers, prevents the performance from taking place in national theatres, Griffin said.
“There’s never been any discussion of expanding it nationally but that would be a wonderful thing to do… except that all of the actors are amateurs and therefore they would need to take time off work and so on, to travel, so I suppose there’s also logistical problems with trying to expand the play nationally,” added Griffin.
Public bookings of the performances can be made through Webtickets. Block bookings and entire performances can be purchased through Dominic Sandiah at 082 460 7677.