PASSION PLAY: A CYCLE IN THREE PARTS | GOODMAN THEATRE
The show’s first–and decidedly most successful–portion takes place in an English village in 1575, when the country was reeling from the anti-Protestant purges of the late queen, Bloody Mary. Her sister and successor, Elizabeth I, has restored Protestantism as the state religion, but closet Catholics cling to their annual passion play. “The stage is our house of worship,” declares John, the intense young fisherman who’s been cast as Jesus. John’s cousin–conveniently named Pontius–covets the part of Christ but must settle for the role of Pilate. Pontius is in love with Mary, the pretty lass cast as the Virgin Mother, though she has an eye for John, who looks damn good in a loincloth. But John’s faith has bound him to a life of celibacy. When Mary gets pregnant by Pontius and her role is taken over by an eccentric teenage girl dismissed by others as the “village idiot,” John must grapple with the limits of his power to help the woman he chastely loves. And when Queen Elizabeth arrives to assert her symbolic role as virgin mother to England–and to sternly reinforce the primacy of her religion–the town faces the prospect that its passion play will be canceled.
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First seen in 2005 at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., Passion Play is being significantly reworked during its run at the Goodman. Wing-Davey has assembled a first-rate design team, but the elaborate production, with its flying boats and zooming media backgrounds, often overshadows rather than complements Ruhl’s crisp, confident language.
PRICE $20-$70
