A while back in my blog I wrote about a concert I went to in a massive open-air theater here near Brejo, and I think I mentioned that it is the site of the annual Paixão de Cristo (Passion of the Christ) play, which draws people from all over Brazil and the world. Well, a couple weeks ago, I got the chance to see this renowned event, and it was incredible!

Joel arrived in Brejo a little past 5 on Friday, April 3, opening day for the Paixão, and we headed out soon after for Nova Jerusalem, where the world’s largest open-air theater awaited us. We had purchased our tickets several weeks before, so we were all set. Arriving in Nova Jerusalem I was blow away; what was the parking lot the last time I came was now filled with tons of shops, bars and restaurants, with a huge stage put up in the middle of it all! There wasn’t too much going on yet, seeing as it was still pretty early, but it was clear that things would pick up as the night moved on... more on that later!

So, we made our way to the entrance to the theater since it was just about 6:00, when the play was set to start. I had been in the complex before, but for the concert I went to we stayed only at one of the stages and didn’t get a chance to see the rest of the grounds, so I was excited to see what the rest of the complex was like. We got inside and joined the crowds gathering around the first stage just as the lights went down and things got underway.

Joel and I weren’t exactly sure what to expect, though we knew we were in for a cool experience. After some opening videos, the play got underway. The first scene was the temptation of Jesus in the desert, and I was immediately impressed. The “stage” was essentially all naturally constructed, with land built up and full of actual trees and rocks and the like. I had heard before, but it hadn’t really registered, but the entire theater complex was designed for the Passion play, so there are a series of 10 or so different stages, each built with a certain scene in mind. What that means is that there is a mix of natural settings for such scenes as teaching in the wilderness and the Garden of Gethsemane and very impressive structures for such locations as Herod’s palace and Pilate’s court. We realized as the play went on and we moved from scene to scene just how well the complex was designed; we were there with probably 3 or 4 thousand people and we never felt like we had a bad view. We didn’t run from place to place either, like some folks, and while we weren’t right up front we always had a good view, it was really nice.

During the first scene we were too far away to know whether the actors had microphones or how the sound was working, but by the second scene we figured out that it was all a pre-recorded soundtrack. This was made obvious by some of the lesser actors attempting to follow along with lines, haha, but all the major actors knew their lines well and spoke along with the recording, so it wasn’t distracting.

So, about the actors. As you can imagine, you need quite a few people to put on a production like this; I saw a report on the national news about the performance, and they said there were roughly 500 extras! And I believe it! The sheer volume of people accompanying various scenes such as Jesus’ teaching in the wilderness and when Jesus is brought before Pilate was astounding! Then, the major actors are not just anybody; starting a number of years back, as the event gained prominence, they started bringing in big-name actors for the principal roles of Jesus, Pilate, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Herod. That meant that I got to see several current and former novela stars! Mary Magdalene was actually in A Favorita, the novela that I blogged all about, haha – talk about an added bonus!

Overall it was an incredible experience, I’m really glad I got a chance to witness this. The sheer magnitude of the production was stunning, and it was really quite well done. While Joel and I didn’t always catch all of the dialogue due to our still-somewhat-lacking Portuguese, we did alright. Camera flashes were constantly going off, haha, but unfortunately my batteries were practically dead, so I only managed to eek out about 10 pictures, but ah well. Here are a few that I managed to take:

The Last Supper

Pilate's court

Pilate with Jesus

The crucifixion

So, once again, an experience I won’t soon forget! But, the end of the show was by no means the end of the fun!

We exited the theater into the little arena that they’d set up with a stage, surrounded by snack bars and shops and whatnot, only to find out that Dominguinhos would be giving a concert that night! That’s who I had seen the other time at this same theater! So Joel and I found a place to sit (after standing to accompany the entire 3 hour play, we were in need of a place to sit!) and waited for the show to begin. Dominguinhos didn’t disappoint, taking the stage soon after and putting on a very fun show full of some great forró! Another added bonus: Dr. Edson, the mayor of Brejo, was there and making his way among the crowd and spotted me and came over to say hi, so I got to feel nice and important and introduce Joel to the mayor. You know, no big deal. (Side note: yesterday I had my first official meeting with the mayor and several others in his administration about a bee-keeping project that Betty and I are helping with! Fun stuff!)

So, needless to say, it was quite the night! Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!