What is a passion play? Where to see one in Atlanta

In preparation for Easter celebrations, some Christian congregations honor their faith by sharing the suffering and salvation of Jesus in a way that is both vivid and touching to those believers who witness it.

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Performed on Good Friday, or as part of Holy Week, passion plays dramatize the Biblical telling of Jesus Christ’s last hours before crucifixion.

“While today’s video games are probably more graphic, in our performance, when Jesus comes up on the cross, he’s bloody, he’s beaten. When he’s carrying the cross piece, our soldiers are beating him with a whip. This year we put extra padding on him, so when he’s being beaten, you can hear it,” said Jeff Powell, missions pastor at Villa Rica First Baptist Church. “It’s nowhere near as graphic as Mel Gibson in ‘The Passion of The Christ,’ but for West Georgia, it’s graphic.”

The performers and the clergy who lead them emphasize that all the energy, pageantry and even the violence have deep meaning.

“The purpose of the play is to give our audience a picture of the suffering of Jesus Christ,” said Lorena Marceleno, who, with husband Emmanuell Almaguer, has directed the living Stations of the Cross performed by members of St. John Paul II Mission in Gainesville for 13 years. “There is only one day where you can portray all the suffering

Article source: https://www.ajc.com/lifestyles/religion/why-passion-plays-have-become-graphic-integral-part-easter-for-atlanta-churches/0lvIDv2rsOyepFyBk0VJEP/