Durban — The 15th Durban Passion Play known as the “Oberammergau of Africa” will be playing at the Playhouse Drama Theatre next month over Easter.
The play strives to restore the true meaning of Easter. Moreover, it is an epic-scale dramatic production depicting Jesus’s passion, covering the final period of his life from Jerusalem to his execution by crucifixion and ending with the Resurrection.
“The play is performed by a large cast who volunteer their time and skills as part of their Lenten preparations. The play involves seven months of commitment from a 130-plus cast who receive no remuneration,” said the statement.
The cast comprises an inter-denominational, inter-faith, multicultural, multilingual group of people who vary in age from toddlers and teenagers to young adults and the more mature. There are multi-generational family groups, with the older members having performed on multiple occasions and the younger ones performing in their first Passion Play.
Furthermore, this year Christus is being performed by Dale Collings – a new cast member who was scheduled to perform the Christ role in 2020. The role of Madonna is shared by Isabel Mateus and Bianca Sandiah.
“There are larger-than-life animals who join the cast, all beautifully handmade and rendered by Edox Gerard. The play is directed by Dawn Haynes and Jessica Wardle who have been working on the script and training the actors for more than 18 months.
“Both agree that the hard work and hundreds of hours are well worth it,” said the statement.
The play will run from April 6 to 16 for a 14-performance season over Easter.
The 15th version of the Passion Play was originally scheduled for Easter 2020, but at the last minute before the scheduled opening the country was placed under hard lockdown.
“Now that lockdown is over, the cast have re-assembled and rehearsals have continued, allowing the production to be ready for Easter 2023,” said the statement.
The first play, staged 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”.
It has now been staged in Durban every five years for the past 70 years. The Durban Passion Play was staged at the Greyville Racecourse, before moving to the Durban City Hall until 1997. More recently it has been performed at the Playhouse. There are daytime and evening performances. Public booking is through Webtickets.
Performances are:
Thursday, April 6 – 7pm (opening)
Friday, April 7 – 10am / 3pm (Good Friday)
Saturday, April 8 – 2.30pm / 7pm
Sunday, April 9 – 2.30pm / 7pm (Easter Sunday)
Tuesday, April 11 – 7pm
Wednesday, April 12 – 7pm
Thursday, April 13 – 7pm Friday, April 14 – 7pm
Saturday, April 15 – 2.30pm / 7pm
Sunday, April 16 – 2.30pm (final)
WhatsApp your views on this story to 071 485 7995
Daily News