|
Lord
of the Marketplace has completed its run, but Blood
Bought, the New Beginnings Christian Center's version
of Jesus' last days and resurrection, will be performed
at 7 pm Wednesday-Saturday, April 19-22, and 11 am Sunday,
April 23 (7600 NE Glisan St., 256-6050).
The
popular Easter traditions of eggs and rabbits are lingering
elements of pre-Christian traditions celebrating spring.
The
Centers for Disease Control has issued a warning that chicks
brought home for Easter (that's baby chickens) could spread
salmonella.
|
|
Easter is to ministers what the Super Bowl is to advertisers--a
once-a-year shot to appeal to a larger-than-usual captive
audience. The most important holiday in the Christian calendar,
Easter Sunday celebrates Jesus' resurrection three days
after his crucifixion. It's also the only Sunday many Christians
attend church all year.
Across denominations, area ministers and priests expect
church attendance to double on Easter Sunday. Beaverton
Foursquare, Oregon's largest Protestant church, schedules
special Saturday services to provide for the overflow; Mount
Olivet Baptist in Portland rents out the Convention Center;
even the Unitarians get in on the act, with the downtown
First Unitarian hosting a sunrise service.
Not content to wait for the big day, a couple of local
churches put on elaborate spectacles in the week ahead of
Easter, replete with fancy special effects, orchestras and
hundreds of volunteers. A sort of biblical Cliff's Notes,
these "Passion plays"--so named for Jesus' suffering, or
Passion, in his last days--hark back to the Middle Ages.
Today they are most popular with nondenominational, evangelical
churches seeking new and ever-more-contemporary ways to
connect with an unchurched audience raised on MTV.
This year Beaverton Christian Church is producing Lord
of the Marketplace, written and directed by worship
minister Jim Lacey with his wife, Sherri. It tells the story
of Jesus as a populist leader battling the narrow conventions
of Jewish religious law. Using music, dance, drama and considerable
artistic license, the play presents vignettes from Jesus'
life: teaching in the Temple at age 12, calling his disciples,
the Last Supper, Judas' betrayal, the crucifixion and, finally,
the resurrection--with a couple of miracles thrown in along
the way.
My husband, possessing a short attention span and almost
total biblical illiteracy, should have been the perfect
audience for a "just-the-highlights" production such as
Beaverton Christian's. But--how to put this gently--he hated
it. Except for one jazzy bit by three women, the musical
numbers never rose above the level of '70s-era love songs,
and each was several minutes too long. As for the plot,
the choice of miracles was hard to fathom. Raising the little
girl from the dead is a classic show-stopper, but spending
almost 10 minutes, a full song and plenty of dialogue ("My
husband won't come near me") on the woman with a 12-year
period verges on the creepy. The red sash around her hips
didn't help any.
The real clincher, though, was what my husband viewed as
the hard sell. "Everything was about how you should buy
into this, rather than showing you so you can make up your
own mind," he said afterwards. "Jesus barely even talked."
According to Lacey, the play is a "gift to the community,"
a way of saying thanks. Beaverton Christian's normal congregation
is 2,000. During the course of the past weekend, twice that
number witnessed Lord. Lacey says he measures the
success of these plays not by how many people become members
of his church but by "the impact it had on making the person
aware of Christ."
In that respect, the play was a success--though not, I
think, in the manner Lacey anticipated.
Below is our rating of the production.
OPENING SCENE (++)
The multi-generational dancing
women in white dresses provided eye candy while the choir
in multicolor costumes gave a solid rendition of "Sound
of the Round."
OVERALL PLOT (+)
Vignettes of Jesus' life interspersed
with songs and a narrator's explanation of events grew tiring.
The choice of historical events seemed arbitrary, but they're
all in the big book (which is more than you can say about
the characters' lines).
SPECIAL EFFECTS (+)
The mini market scene outside
the sanctuary, complete with live baby goats, was a nice
touch, but use of dry ice, thunderstorm sounds at the crucifixion
and fake wings on the angel didn't rise above the level
of high-school production.
THE GORE FACTOR (+++)
The crucifixion, though low-budget,
was convincing enough to bring a couple of young audience
members to tears.
THE VILLAINS (+)
The focus on the role of scary Jewish
priests scheming for Jesus' arrest gave the impression that
they, rather than Judas and Pontius Pilate, were responsible
for his death--a myth that neither the gospels nor contemporary
biblical scholars support.
THE HERO (++)
Soft of voice, hirsute and blessed
with a beatific smile and historically inaccurate pale skin,
Jesus has strong SNAG appeal--if you're into that sort of
thing.
CLOSING SCENE (+++)
Even though every knows the "surprise"
ending, it still works. When the women find Jesus' tomb
empty, the lights go out. A spotlight finds Jesus in the
balcony, and the choir starts into Messiah, bringing the
audience to its feet.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Willamette Week | originally
published April 19,
2000
|
