Badlands Passion Play celebrates 20 years

Times Contributor 

 

The Canadian Badlands Passion Play will celebrate its 20th anniversary this July. It began in the summer of 1994 when the play started simply. Actors portrayed Jesus’ life from the stage of the bare valley floor. Audience members sat on blankets and lawn chairs around the grassy hillside. Props and costumes, though as authentic as possible, were inexpensive and homemade. 

“In the early days (of the Passion Play), they had to make the Roman helmets out of Tupperware,” says executive director, Vance Neudorf. Chainmail was made from Rubbermaid shelf netting. Shields were from children’s toys.

“We’ve got a great history of innovation and finding ways to make things happen,” Neudorf says, so over the 20 years, things have changed a bit. Some of the original volunteers are still involved, but “No one I’ve ever met there just sits back and says, ‘Ah, let’s do the same thing we did last year,’” he says. “The play is absolutely different every single year you see it.”

One of the big changes for 2013 is that Aaron Krogman, who understudied Jesus’ role for two years, will play it for the first time. 

“Any time you have a new actor step into such an iconic role, it shifts the cast around it,” says Barrett Hileman, co-director. “That brings a new life to the piece,” he says. “It allows everybody to be playing it fresh.”

New music and a new script based on John’s Gospel were introduced two years ago. Two million pounds of concrete blocks were brought in to construct a first-century-Jerusalem building, plus, Neudorf says, “We’ve built domes, ponds and rock walls and all sorts of things on the set just to give it an authentic feel.”

Their playing surface includes the surrounding hills. “It’s six football fields in size,” Neudorf says, “and we use all of it.” A world-class surround-sound system has been installed, and comfortable wooden benches seat 2700 people.

For 2013, there’s another new guest amenity. “We’ve built what we call the Forum,” Neudorf says. “We’re going to put little marketplace stalls in there, little water-sellers and various things, to make it feel like, when you’re coming onto the play site, that you’re walking through this (first century) marketplace.”

The community that holds the Passion Play together is unique in that 40 professionals – performers, directors, designers, costumers from across Canada – work alongside 200 volunteer actors. “The Passion Play is one of the few places in theatre where you have (that kind of) mix,” Neudorf says.

Volunteers alone put in 50 000 hours, annually. For 10 weeks a year, they prepare and rehearse and, “They become this tight-knit group of people,” Neudorf says. For Hileman, that community has become an integral part of his family life. His wife and two daughters are also in the play, and for several years, the Hileman family lived in New York but returned to Drumheller every summer – just to be in the Passion Play.

Their unique community is joined by a common purpose. “The dedication of everybody that’s there (is) to tell the story well,” Neudorf says, to “make it come so alive to people that they feel like they were there.”

“It’s a great story and we try to tell it as best we can,” says Hileman, “which is maybe different than people who have heard the story told to them, or have read the Scriptures. Seeing it live in front of you is quite a different experience.”

In 2013, The Passion Play Documentary, a short film about the history and making of the Passion Play, was honored with two awards from the Alberta Film and Television Awards (AFTA), for best director and best documentary in its category.

But how will the Passion Play team celebrate their 20th year of innovation, community and striving for authenticity?

“To celebrate,” Neudorf says, “we’re doing what we’ve always done, which is to innovate and create.” They’ve added another show this year, totalling eight plus a preview.

“I hope (the 20th anniversary) really reflects the spirit of all the people that have gone before us,” Hileman says. “My hope is that those that come out and see it would know or have some sense of the tradition that we’ve built upon. … I hope that the show itself is reflective of that.”

And what does Hileman say to those of us who’ve known about the Passion Play for 20 years, but never attended? “It’s time,” he says. “It’s been there for 20 years. It’s a cultural icon. It’s been recognized across North America. And you have it in your own backyard, so stop waiting and come.”

The Canadian Badlands Passion Play runs July 10 to 21, 2013 in Drumheller, Alberta. For tickets or information, go to canadianpassionplay.com or call 403-823-2001.