Passion rekindled in story of old
How does one reinvigorate the age-old story of the Passion of Christ for a new audience at Easter?
For WA playwright and former Curtin University lecturer Tony Nicholls, the answer was to tell the story from the point of view of the Cross.
Based on the ancient poem The Dream of the Rood, Nicholls' contemporary passion play will be shown in the gardens of Government House next month.
Presented by the Anglican Diocese of Perth, the play is set against a backdrop of 21st-century Perth.
It presented a "passionate debate" in which a boy on the run encountered each of the major figures in the Easter story and asked them to explain their roles, Nicholls said.
After committing an act of vandalism, he hides in an empty building where an inanimate cross begins to talk.
"I wanted to tell the story of the Passion and Resurrection of Christ but also to find a way for our contemporary world, and especially young people, to break into it, confront it and interrogate it - to ask, 'Is it still important'," Nicholls said.
The production will be hosted by Channel 7 newsreader Rick Ardon and features well-known local actors Erin Hutchinson, Mark Desebrock and Tyler Jacob Jones.
Nicholls said he did not want to write a play that pretended to offer all the answers to questions people might have about religion.
"With this play I'm encouraging people to re-examine their ideas," he said.
"When you buy a new car you kick the tyres; if the wheels fall off, it's probably not a good buy. We should all kick the tyres of our beliefs and assumptions now and again."
The Passion of Christ 2014 starts at 7.30pm on April 12 and 13 in the Government House gardens. Attendance is free but bookings must be made online at trybooking.com/DMMR
