Passion Play on the Prairie

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This article was published 02/07/2011 (5533 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

La RIVIERE — For three nights in July, Crystal City bookkeeper Bill Tiessen places his life in the hands of his friends.

That’s because the 46-year-old volunteer actor portraying Jesus of Nazareth in Manitoba’s only outdoor Passion Play is raised high on a wooden cross by five men playing Roman soldiers, and then taken down again 15 minutes later as a dead body at the logical conclusion of the crucifixion.

“I feel a little trepidation, but I’ve been through it enough that I trust the group,” the father of two teenagers says of how fellow actors secure him to the cross with rope, then lift the cross into a wooden framework dug deep into the southwestern Manitoba hillside.

Tiessen is one of 70 actors, musicians and crew members passionate volunteering in a dramatic presentation of the birth, life and death of Jesus Christ at the Oak Valley Outdoor Theatre, July 8 to 10.

“It’s an act of love, not to mention the people are great and the site is beautiful,” says veteran performer Curtis Shupenia, 41, cast in the role of the Apostle John for the sixth year.

Now in its 12th season in the natural amphitheatre located on a 32-hectare valley property at the east end of La Riviere, about two hours southwest of Winnipeg, the made-in-Manitoba Passion Play follows a long tradition.

In the Middle Ages, passion plays educated an illiterate population about the biblical story of the suffering of Jesus Christ during his last days.

“I think it’s just a creative way of bringing the (Christian) Gospel to life in an outdoor setting,” explains director Belita Jorge Sanders of the annual Oak Valley production, which runs slightly longer than two hours.

“We can read about the life of Christ, we can hear about the life of Christ, (but) here we can experience it through our senses just to see it and hear it.”

These days, the play is less a teaching tool and more of an expression of faith, says a young actor who plays five roles in his first year in the cast.

“I viewed it as something to build faith,” explains Cameron McNabb, 16, of Manitou. “There are lots of aspects of faith. You learn so much through the script and you feel the power of what you’re doing and why something is so significant.”

Actors in the production commit about a dozen weekends to rehearsals and performances, and they do it for the joy of being onstage in the beautiful outdoor setting, says Sanders, estimating 80 per cent of her cast has been involved in previous years.

“I think most people feel they want to come back,” says the Manitou-area farmer. “To them, it’s close to their heart.”

For returning actor Luke Friesen, who reprises the role of Judas Iscariot, hanging out in the Pembina Valley is a definite benefit for him, as well as exploring the motivations of Judas’s character, who betrays Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

“It’s the (story) of someone who wants to do the right thing and know God,” the 27-year-old Winnipegger says of Judas. “It seems there is a fine line, but it can go so bad.”

Sometimes a character is just bad and that’s fun, too, says Adam Bergen, who dons the helmet, armour and cape of a Roman soldier for the fourth consecutive year.

“It’s an easy character to play,” explains the 20-year-old Altona resident. “You have to laugh maniacally and be a little rough. It comes easily for me.”

This year’s production has undergone significant internal and external changes. Sanders revised the play to include the birth of Jesus, his baptism, and the Sermon on the Mount, and recruited eight musicians for a live band, replacing the recorded music of recent years.

More significantly, the original set, weathered by 11 years of rain and snow, was replaced with a larger one featuring storage space for props and sets. The $45,000 price tag was partly offset by a $15,000 government grant, says Tiessen, who does double duty as Oak Valley’s treasurer.

“We’re invested in this new set, so we’ll continue,” he says, referring to the indefinite future for the production, which breaks even with about 1,200 paying customers over the weekend run.

The amphitheatre can accommodate up to 1,000 people for a show, with seating in bleachers, benches and room for lawn chairs.

The show has been blessed with good weather throughout the years, with no cancellations to date because of rain, says Tiessen, although patrons have had to get out the umbrellas and rain gear to weather brief showers.

After four years as the main character, Tiessen is philosophical about his minor discomfort during the crucifixion scene, brushing off his 15 minutes on the cross as minimal compared to what really happened. What really resonates with him is how the rolling landscape of southwestern Manitoba can be used to portray a Middle Eastern story, such as the scene in which Jesus climbs up the hillside populated with oak trees and Manitoba maples and preaches to a crowd of his followers and fans.

“It probably feels the most real in terms of the setting, the people are listening, the disciples are there, it’s in nature, and (I’m) not on a cement stage.”

— — —

St. Boniface Archbishop Albert LeGatt will celebrate an outdoor mass at the theatre, 4:30 p.m., on Sunday, July 10.

brenda@suderman.com

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