Parishes
9 April 2008
Good Friday became unusually personal this year for audiences at a musical drama performed by Ss Peter & Paul Lower Hutt WYD pilgrims.
They found themselves pulled into the action as the musical challenged them to acknowledge real responsibility for the suffering and death of Jesus.
‘One Friday In Eternity’, based on the passion of Christ, tells the audience that the crucifixion ‘happens every day’ through our own cruelty, betrayal, indifference and neglect.
The 12 young actors gave outstanding performances. Their team work ensured excellent timing, with enough emotion to show how closely they identified with the theme. Each brought a sense of faith to their performance, adding credibility and realism that completely engaged the audience. Every aspect of the passion of Jesus was given a personal application.
Standouts were Deanne Rutherford’s powerful interpretation of Peter’s denial and John Paul Twaalfhoven’s song of the one who nailed Jesus to the cross. Those watching and listening found much to ponder. Have I denied Jesus? Have I hammered nails into his hands?
Director, Theresa Hanaray, a drama graduate, who participated in the production in the same parish as a teenager in the 1990s, used her appreciation of youth and her own deep faith to present a wonderfully searching meditation. For this audience—and the performers—Good Friday will never be the same.