A theatre group who have battled wind, snow and Covid to perform an annual Passion Play are set to celebrate 10 years this Easter.
DramaKirk, who are based at Hamilton Old Church of Scotland and often perform in public spaces across the town, annually draws a cast from the local community, with all ages, from toddlers to pensioners, taking part.
A decade on from their first Easter play, organisers are seeking new actors and helpers to help bring Jesus’ last days to life.
Reflecting on the first ten performances, which faced the usual challenges of staging a large production, as well as some less common ones, director Liz Blackman describes the weather as “not always our friend”.
“The first year we did a full outdoor play it was an early Easter, so bitterly cold – we had snow at one point,” she recalls.
“Of course, the actor playing Jesus was wearing very little in later scenes whilst the snow was coming down and the wind was terrible.
“There’s a nice balcony in Hamilton town centre and the only moment it didn’t rain or snow in the performance was when we were under it.”
During Covid the group filmed a production for that year’s Passion Play, which meant they had to follow the rules carefully.
“We have a box with an inflatable body in it for when Peter and John were putting Jesus in the tomb – they were father and son and living in the same house so could be next to each other – but we couldn’t actually put the actor playing Jesus on the stretcher, so we had to use the inflatable to be carried into the tomb.
“Daft things like that have been really nice memories over the year.”
Liz, whose professional background is in theatre, began Drama Kirk as a different way for people to access the Bible after her husband Ross became the minister of Hamilton Old Parish Church and the family moved to the area.
“Having been involved in a number of drama-related things in church I really saw the benefit of it as a means of bringing stories to life for people,” she says.
“We started it as mission – we were taking the Gospel into the heart of our town and it was going to be an accessible and easy way for people to see scripture – and it absolutely is.”
Drama Kirk has branched out from the main Easter production to stage Bible study sessions and even improvised comedy evenings featuring cast members from the Passion Play.
“The big surprise has been all the things we didn’t know about passages of scripture,” Liz says.
“Even if we think we know the Bible we perhaps can engage with it on a completely different, more emotional level if we’re actually portraying the characters.”
This year Drama Kirk are keen to mark their decade anniversary by recruiting some additional cast members.
“I always say if you find me 200 people I will find them 200 jobs,” she jokes.
“There’s so much people can do – the admin, the publicity, the scheduling, setting up props, building things, being a runner and getting a mike up to the right person at the right time.
“You don’t have to be from Hamilton; you don’t have to go to church – anybody is welcome.
“We will take whatever bit of time people are willing to give.”
She says that while there are the usual benefits from taking part in community theatre, the faith aspect “adds something special”.
“You can read the Last Supper in the Bible just like that but when you’re faced with13 men and you’re thinking through who is sitting where and why? Who is paying attention to Jesus throughout? Who is just eating their dinner? You’re thinking beyond the text in a way that just reading scripture doesn’t allow you to do.”
The dramatisation of Jesus’ final days has a power to draw people from a wide range of ages and backgrounds, including children, retirees and, in some years, professional actors.
“The Passion Play unveils something particularly about the nature of Jesus when you see how he interacts with young and old,” Liz explains.
Looking back at the how the annual production has evolved she says she would “never have imagined” she’d be still doing it 10 years later.
“We’re still able to come together to deliver something meaningful for our town – that has to be the thing I’m most proud of,” she adds.
“The support that we’ve had from our own congregation at Hamilton Old and others, has been tremendous.”
If you are interested in taking part in this year’s production please email dramakirk@gmail.com.
This year’s play is being performed at 3pm on Saturday 4 April.
Dramakirk: Church of Scotland takes the Christian message to the streets.