Good Friday - Passion Play

My dear friend and fellow Blipper, Honeycombebeach, was one of the actors in the Wroughton Passion Play, near Swindon. I had plans that fell through today - which made me happy - because I really really wanted to go to this!  

The Passion Play far exceeded my expectations!  A few of the actors were either professionals or seasoned amateurs, but most of them had very little acting experience. The quality of the acting was superb, but more important, the story of the last week of Jesus' life was faithfully portrayed.

The play took place in different locations, 3 indoor and 2 outdoor - a community centre, 2 churches, a park, and the lawn and car park of a pub. The action took part in the midst of the audience and we followed the players as they moved to the different locations in the village.

Honeycombebeach played the part of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and her speech at the foot of the cross was especially dramatic and moving.

After a day of pouring rain yesterday, and a forecast of heavy wind and rain for the rest of the Easter weekend, prayers were answered with a gloriously sunny and warm day! Both actors and audience were relieved to not have to perform in the pouring rain!  

I believe they were only expecting 300-400 people, and I'm not sure how many turned up but I've heard estimates between 1000-1500. I'm not sure if they plan to make this an annual performance, but if they do, I highly recommend it!  It was a huge blessing to me and a perfect way to spend Good Friday!

I highly recommend that you read HCB's version of the day, in her beautiful blip on Friday, and then her thoughtful reflections on Saturday and Easter Sunday. 

Scenes above:
Top Left: Jesus teaches his Disciples
Top Right: The blind woman healed is interrogated by the Pharisees
Middle Left: The Last Supper
Middle Right:  Jesus is arrested and taken away from the Garden of Gethsemane
Bottom Left: The trial before Pilate
Bottom Right: The Crucifixion

Article in Swindon Advertiser

More (and better!) photos from the Passion Play (with commentary)