Worth the drive to Toronto

[Batman]

The Toronto Passion Play celebrates it's 16th Anniversary

Toronto, Ontario – The 16th annual Toronto Passion Play, an Easter
theatrical production, will be held at Queensway Cathedral during the Easter
season in March. Since it's inception in 1993, over 240,000 people have seen
this extraordinary performance.

The multi-cultural cast of more than 250 actors, singers and musicians all
attend Queensway Cathedral. The production has lavish sets, live animals,
special effects and spectacular lighting.

"The entire cast of the production are volunteers," said Halina, Producer of
the Toronto Passion Play. "And every year we are always amazed at the gifted
people that volunteer."

The Toronto Passion Play will be held on:

* Saturday March 15th at 7:00pm,
* Sunday March 16th at 4:00pm,
* Friday March 22nd at 2:00pm & 7:00pm,
* Saturday March 23rd at 2:00pm & 7:00pm, and
* Sunday March 24th at 4:00pm.

The March 16stth and March 21th evening performance will both be interpreted
for the Deaf. Admission is free for all ages and a free will offering will
be taken. Doors open 1 hour prior to listed performance times on a first
come first serve basis.

Queensway Cathedral will offer free nursery service and parking at all
performances. For more information including video clips and pictures, visit
http://www.torontopassionplay.com or call 416-255-0141.

The Toronto Passion Play is modeled after the famous Oberammergau Passion
Play held every 10 years since 1634.


For more information contact:
Queensway Cathedral
http://www.queenswaycathedral.com/
Tel: 416.255.0141

[GenX]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Batman</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

The Toronto Passion Play is modeled after the famous Oberammergau Passion
Play held every 10 years since 1634.

</div></div>

Now that's a run even "CATS" can't touch!

[almabear]

I've seen the Passion play in Drumheller Alberta and it is an incredible production. I encourage anyone who can to go see it.

[Verotik]

this sounds more fun, if you are going to ripoff a pagan holiday you might as well have fun.

'Why Easter means sword play to me'
Heptonstall pace egg play, photo by Chris Ratcliffe
St George does battle
For some, Easter is marked with a village play based on a pagan rebirth ceremony, in which St George smites all challengers and the fool Toss Pot rejoices. Graphic designer David Burnop, who helped revived this folk tradition, explains.

The play, known as a 'pace egg play', is a bawdy piece of entertainment, with lots of sword fights and shouting and interaction with the crowd. It's derived from mummers' plays - mummers were bands of masked performers who paraded the streets during festivals.

While it may not appear to have much to do with Easter, there's a lot of rebirth symbolism in the play, which ties it to both Easter and to pagan spring ceremonies.

Pace egg plays are much like maypoling or well dressing, in that there's been quite a revival of these folk traditions.

Midgley School children, photo from Calderdale Council
An early photo of pupils rehearsing
In Heptonstall, in Yorkshire's Calder Valley, we started performing the plays again in 1979 for the village school's centenary. As I had done it as a child in the 1960s, my mother - then the school secretary - asked me to get some old boys together and re-enact it as part of the celebrations.

I tracked down my old teacher and got a script off him; I talked to the old men in the pub who remembered doing it between the wars when they were boys. The play went down so well, we now do it every Good Friday in the village square.

A lot of the crowd are regulars; those who have left the village and come back for the Easter holiday all come along because they know their friends will also be watching. It's become a meeting point, a coming together of the village, so quite an important event.

Crusading tale

The plot is pretty loose, and there's always lots of banter with the crowd, but it goes something like this: St George, the gallant Christian hero, is challenged by the mercenary infidel knight Bold Slasher. We find this undertone of the Crusades particularly poignant this year.

ENGLISH FOLK TRADITION
David as the Doctor in the pace egg play, photo by Chris Ratcliffe
Easter is a Christian festival, but its name is pagan - from Eastre (or Eostre) the Anglo-Saxon spring goddess
The plays are a Good Friday tradition in parts of England
This drama of death and rebirth is rooted in Celtic, Egyptian and Syrian traditions
'Pace' might derive from 'pasche', the Latin for passion - hence the Easter connection
They fight, and Bold Slasher is slain, for George cannot be vanquished. In comes the Doctor - played by me, dressed as a Victorian quack - who administers some medicine and by some miracle brings Bold Slasher back to life.

Then along comes the Black Prince of Paradise - the son of the King of Egypt - who is also slain. Next his father comes on, but instead of fighting George himself, he calls upon his champion, Hector.

But Hector is driven off, for he is not as tough as he presents himself to be. George is victorious, and at this point everyone holds up their hands to proclaim peace and joy.

To finish off, in comes Toss Pot, a character who's unique to this area. He's a bit of a tramp, a bit of an old codger, who makes various suggestions to ladies in the audience and collects money for charity. We'll be giving the proceeds to Iraq this year; last year we collected for Afghanistan.