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Passion Play (Sarah Ruhl)

  • Sarah Ruhl
  • Full Length Play, Dramatic Comedy, Present Day, 1940s / WWII, 1980s, 16th Century / Elizabethan
  • 8M, 3F
  • ISBN: 9780573699085

"Her [Ruhl's] unmistakable voice -- poetic and quirky, underpinned with serious feeling and even more serious intelligence -- trumpets forth in brash, impressive form in this ambitious...play."

The New York Times

More information

Description

  • Full Length Play
  • Dramatic Comedy
  • 120 minutes

  • Time Period: Present Day, 1940s / WWII, 1980s, 16th Century / Elizabethan
  • Target Audience: Adult
  • Set Requirements: Unit Set/Multiple Settings
  • Cautions: Mild Adult Themes

  • Performance Group:
  • Community Theatre, College Theatre / Student, Professional Theatre, Large Stage

  • Accolades:
  • 'Ten Best Plays of 2008' by The New Yorker
Hailed by the New Yorker's John Lahr as "extraordinary", "bold", and "inventive", Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play takes us behind the scenes of three communities attempting to stage the death and resurrection of Christ. From Queen Elizabeth's England to Hitler's Germany to Reagan's America, Ruhl's exploration of devotion takes us on a humorous yet unsettling journey filled with lust, whimsy, and a lot of fish. 

This intimate epic occurs at the timely intersection of politics and religion. Ruhl dramatizes a community of players rehearsing their annual staging of the Easter Passion in three different eras: 1575 northern England, just before Queen Elizabeth outlaws the ritual; 1934 Oberammergua, Bavaria, as Hitler is rising to power; and Spearfish, South Dakota, from the time of Vietnam through Reagan's presidency. In each period, the players grapple in different ways with the transformative nature of art, and politics are never far in the background, as Queen Elizabeth, Hitler, and Reagan each appear, played by a single commanding actor.
REVIEWS:

Her [Ruhl's] unmistakable voice — poetic and quirky, underpinned with serious feeling and even more serious intelligence — trumpets forth in brash, impressive form in this ambitious and frisky if sometimes unruly play.

New York Times

Ruhl's voice seems to retreat beyond the sphere of the play, performing that special vanishment that good writers—and good gods—know best how to do....Critic's Pick!

Time Out NY

Let's just get the superlatives out of the way. Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play is the most exciting, stimulating, and thrilling piece of theater to hit New York since Angels in America.

Backstage
Premiere Production: An early version of Passion Play was produced in workshop at the Tristan Bates Theatre in London in July 2002. It was directed by Mark Wing-Davey.
Passion Play received its world premiere at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., on September 2, 2005. It was directed by Molly Smith.

Characters

  • Casting: 8M, 3F
  • Casting Attributes: Reduced casting (Doubling Possible), Ensemble cast, Flexible casting, Non-Traditional casting
  • Casting Notes: Cast doubles roles for each separate Part of Passion Play

  • PONTIUS THE FISH GUTTER / FOOTSOLDIER / P
    JOHN THE FISHERMAN / ERIC / J
    MARY 1 / ELSA
    MARY 2
    VISITING FRIAR / VISITING ENGLISHMAN, OR SIMON LILLY / VA PSYCHIATRIST
    VILLIAGE IDIOT / VIOLET
    CARPENTER 1, SAM / CARPENTER 2, JOHANN / ENSEMBLE
    CARPENTER 2, SIMON / LUDWIG / ENSEMBLE
    DIRECTOR / ROCHUS SCHALLHAMMER
    MACHINIST / GERMAN OFFICER / YOUNG DIRECTOR
    QUEEN ELIZABETH / HITLER / PRESIDENT REGAN

    • Available Material

    Name Price
    Passion Play (Sarah Ruhl) Script Order Now

    Hailed by the New Yorker's John Lahr as 'extraordinary', 'bold', and 'inventive', Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play takes us behind the scenes of three communities attempting to stage the death and resurrection of Christ. From Queen Elizabeth's England to Hitler's Germany to Reagan's America, Ruhl's exploration of devotion takes us on a humorous yet unsettling journey filled with lust, whimsy, and a lot of fish. This intimate epic occurs at the timely intersection of politics and religion. Ruhl dramatizes a community of players rehearsing their annual staging of the Easter Passion in three different eras: 1575 northern England, just before Queen Elizabeth outlaws the ritual; 1934 Oberammergua, Bavaria, as Hitler is rising to power; and Spearfish, South Dakota, from the time of Vietnam through Reagan's presidency. In each period, the players grapple in different ways with the transformative nature of art, and politics are never far in the background, as Queen Elizabeth, Hitler, and Reagan each appear, played by a single commanding actor.

    		$24.95

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