Just came back from "the Great Passion Play". What am I gonna say? It was a passion play. You've seen one, you've seen them all. But this one was pretty cool because of the sets, the special effects, and especially the scenery. It is just beautiful in these parts and the ampitheater at the Passion Play is situated in a perfect spot where one can appreciate it. There were three scenes that stood out. The resurrection, complete with fire and hellish red light emenating from inside the tomb just before the stone is rolled away, was well played. When Jesus all of a sudden appears to the disciples (the part where he assures Thomas that he's really alive) it was almost like a magic trick. And then there was the part that I knew would be awesome if it could be pulled off...the ascension, of course. With lights and wires they really pulled it off astoundingly.The first thing we noticed when we got situated in the amphitheater was this old guy dressed like Moses selling popcorn for two dollars a bag. That was pretty surreal. And then this security guy comes over and tells us that photography is not permitted there after 5:30 pm. Don't know why he singled us out for the warning...he might have seen the wife pointing her camera phone towards the "stage", so that might have had something to do with it. I don't know why they have a rule like that. They have videos and DVDs of the production for sale, which is kind of ridiculous if you ask me, but it explains why they don't want video cameras. But digital cameras? Why not? I can only assume that they don't want the flashes to spook the animals in the production (of which there were several...an aspect of the spectacle that I enjoyed very much).
All the audio, speech and music, was pre-recorded. That was a major drawback, in my opinion. I suppose it's probably a necessity since it's got to be nearly impossible to attach microphones to all the principle players. The effect, though, gives the impression that the performers are over-emoting. A lot of that is done to play to the back rows, no doubt, but the effect was annoying and detracted from the experience. Even worse, the spoken word parts sounded like they were read straight from a script (well, of course)...not very well "acted"...when Jesus rides his donkey into Jerusalem there are a couple of kids saying (NOT shouting) "Hosanna" and they sound like characters in one of those ridiculous cartoons the religious satellite networks show on Sunday mornings.
All in all it was enjoyable. It would be easy for me to say that it was "cheesy" because it certainly had a lot of those elements. Or I could be a Scrooge and complain that this kind of literal biblical interpretation isn't my thing. But seriously. It was a good time. It was a good re-reading of the greatest story ever told. Everybody there seemed to really enjoy it (though I have no doubts that at least 95% of all the people in the stands were devout Christians already, so it was definitely a case of "preaching to the choir"). So who am I to say anything too negative? I wouldn't even if I thought I had the right. Which I don't.
I will say this, though. The gift shop was a joke. Nothing but a small scale Mardels, complete with goofy christian t-shirts, shelves of books ("Christian Fiction" getting a very prominent spot amongst them), and more cross jewelry than you can shake a stick at. Trinkets and curios made up the bulk of their inventory, and I suppose that's all good and well for people who like to have that kind of souvenir. But I gotta re-iterate...those "christian t-shirts" were about as dorky as they come. I am ashamed to say that I once owned and wore a couple of them. In my defense, though, back then I tried to pick out stuff that wasn't too stupid, that had at least a little dignity. Just about every shirt design I saw at this gift shop was as hoaky as it gets. You have to wonder what non-Christians think when they see these things. "Sheesh", probably, and they are right.
Okay, enough evangelizing for one night. The hour grows late, the wife and son already under the blankets, the lights off and the darkness broken only by the cathode ray of this computer monitor. More tomorrow.
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