This Sunday: Sermon Drama

This Sunday during the 10:30 a.m. service, the Trinity Players and Spring Glen Players will present "Christ in the Concrete City," a short, modern passion play. They will also perform the work on the front steps of Trinity on Good Friday at 3:30 p.m. and at Spring Glen Church on Good Friday at 7 p.m.

Author Philip Turner writes:

This play attempts to portray the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ from three points of view. Firstly, it is the story of something that happened. I have taken large liberties with the Gospel narrative, finding myself forced to compress violently, and even in some cases to put phrases on lips where they do not belong, in order to get the facts into the play. The actors step into and out of the historical characters. Thus, when the third man represents Pilate, he acts the part as long as the text demands, and then forgets about it. 
Secondly, the story of the Passion is one of universal significance, speaking timelessly to all mankind. Here the cast act as a chorus, as a unit with several voices rather than as a group of individuals. These passages require a formal presentation both in speech and movement. 
Thirdly, the Crucifixion and Resurrection are events of personal significance speaking intimately to the individual in the secret places of his own soul and urging him to action here and now. So, in the play there is a third level of action which tries to show the modern equivalent of the events or ideas brought out in the other themes. For the most part these sequences are caricatures.

The cast and crew include, Bethany Appleby, Nick Appleby, Jeanne Kerr, Marika Kuzma, Rich Lamere, Neil Olsen, Lisa Omark, Chuck Paul and is directed by Robert Sandine.