Good Friday essay: Passion plays and the ethics of spectacular violence

In 1985 Filipino carpenter Ruben Enaje fell three storeys and remarkably, survived. To give thanks for this good fortune, he has, for the past 30 Good Fridays, dressed up as Jesus and allowed actors portraying Roman soldiers to nail his hands and feet to a cross in the climax of his small village’s Passion play.

Passion plays are dramatic renditions of Christ’s arrest, trial, lashing, and crucifixion (and often other elements of his life such as the Resurrection). They occur all over the world around Easter.

This year, a group in Manchester briefly offered “the full crucifixion experience” for £750 – until the fundraiser was cancelled for being dangerous and blasphemous. But most actors in Passion plays merely simulate the extreme pain of Jesus’ death, without actually suffering it. Still, cases such as Enaje’s illustrate the deep desire of some Christians to feel Christ’s pain – a desire palpable throughout the long history of Passion plays.

There are myriad such plays each year in Europe, the Americas, and Asia. In Australia, the Iona Passion Play (first performed in 1960), the Moogerah Passion Play (first performed in 1993), and the Melbourne Passion Play (first performed in 1997) all attest to Australia’s deep seated zeal for performing and witnessing Christ’s death.

I study medieval literature and its depictions of emotion, and I have become increasingly interested in these performances. I am currently spending my weekends watching Australian Passion plays and talking to their organisers, actors, and audience

Article source: http://theconversation.com/good-friday-essay-passion-plays-and-the-ethics-of-spectacular-violence-75916