The Hornchurch Passion Play

The Hornchurch Passion Play takes place on the green, next to the Queen's Theatre.  There is free parking in the next door Sainsbury's Car Park.  We left home in time to arrive a little after 6pm.  We got there and found that was a little too early.  That gave us the opportunity to get some chips at the local Fish and Chips shop - just six minutes walk away.

When we arrived it was still daylight, we could see all the sets scattered around the edge of the green.  I took a 360º video of the scene from roughly the centre of the green.  You can see that below.

The performance starts with a greeting to the Passover festival by the Priests - emphasising the need for security and the good behaviour of the attendees.    

The scenes are a mixture of the up to date and the first century - but mostly the first century.  The dialogue is taken from the biblical accounts with a lot of additional imagined material to explain what is going on to an uninitiated audience.

I described the dialogue as "The Passion meets Peckam". (A reference to Only fools and Horses).  That is not a negative criticism, it is the feeling I get from the dialogue, simple, familiar and easy to access.  The drama that results is powerful and made me think about who Jesus is as a person, and obviously why He would go through such a situation.

A brilliant addition to our usual Easter activities. 

Easter Saturday Easter Pick 'n' Mix #EasterPnM

Five short sketches in Billericay town centre, repeated on the hour and half hour from 10am until 5pm make up Easter Pick 'n' Mix telling the story of Easter.

We started with 'Dice Cubes', where Mr Waddington's world of games is being taken over by his characters, how will he sort that out? Well, if you know the Easter story, you can guess that his son ends up being nailed to a cross.

Then in to Waitrose for some supplies and a coffee before moving to the graveyard, where Holmes and Watson are investigating a missing body -  problem solved: it got up and walked away!

 In the Mayflower hall, Peter is drowning his sorrows and chatting to Mary Magdalene.  This is a serious and moving piece of drama.  There is also free tea and coffee, but as I had just finished a Waitrose coffee, we just sat and watched.

Off to Greggs for a sandwich, and into St. Mary's to eat it and listen to three girls inviting another member into their gang.  The new member is not what she seems, and we soon start to see how nasty girls can be.  This sketch has a clever twist and portrays the gospel message of forgiveness.

The final sketch took place in the coldest part of town, in the yard between the High Street and the Waitrose loading bay, off Alma Link, Here a Roman soldier gives us his wisdom on the day he has had, with an extra crucifixion thrown in at the last minute.  A very long, interesting monologue.

Well done to all who took any part in the day, the sketches were very good, entertaining, informative and thought-provoking.  I don't know how long this link will be active, but right now it has some videos of the day: https://www.facebook.com/EASTER.PiCnMiX/