SARAH RUHL'S PASSION PLAY
IRONDALE, 85 South Oxford Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
This is actually three plays with the same premise: A behind the scenes look at a troupe of actors rehearsing and performing the classic Passion of Jesus Christ at three specific times in history: one being Elizabethan England, the second Hitler’s Germany and finally Reagan’s America.
What an experience, we went on Sunday, the perfect day for a Passion, though early spring would have made more sense. The play itself must be seen to be judged. I enjoyed most of the 3 hours and 30 minutes with two intermissions. However, the last act was a tad cliché with the Viet Nam vet suffering from PTSD. Be that as it may: The actors are amazing; the props gorgeous, perhaps this is a bit of an “actors” play in that there are a few esoteric jokes about theatre. Nevertheless, the point of this play is how the origin of theater itself is always with us in communion. It is also is about how monarchies, fascism and capitalism have just about hijacked theater (and religion?) as the world once knew it while attempting to co-opt them for their own purposes. Sarah Ruhl is one of our favorite playwrights at the moment, she also wrote “In the Next room…or the Vibrator play” which was staged on Broadway this season. The Irondale Center is a jewel in Fort Greene. This is a great find. Traditional companies focusing on Shakespeare might want to check this space out.
VIDEO: "Passion Play" Rises
How Epic Theatre brought Sarah Ruhl's new play to a Brooklyn Church
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcXAoilMPFI&feature=player_embedded
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