HOLENSKI INSIDE THE PASSION PLAY – AN ACTOR’S PERSPECTIVE PAGE 1 OF 10

Producer: Connor Holenski

MUSIC OVERTURE: ESTABLISH 10 SEC, THEN HOLD UNDER

My name is Don Martens. I reside in the Town of Winkler,

Manitoba. I have been involved in the dramatic production

The Carpenter produced by Oak Valley Productions in the Town

of La Riviere, Manitoba.

MUSIC OVERTURE: UP 10 SEC, THEN HOLD UNDER

You know when I was back in high school I played some

dramatic roles… mostly comedies and fun kinds of

productions. And since then I really was not very involved

in the world of drama. It was several years ago… about four

years ago… that the church that I attend, which is an

evangelical Christian church, decided to put on an Easter

production, and they approached me about playing the role of

Christ.

MUSIC UP, THEN HOLD UNDER

And I decided to accept the role. That is how I got

started, and I have played the part of Christ in that

production for four years, and now the last two at The

Carpenter as well.

MUSIC MUSIC - OVERTURE, 5:30: ESTABLISH AND HOLD

UNDER

I think we all have an expectation, or a picture of what

Christ would have looked like or would have sounded like…

how He would have walked or how He would have smiled. You

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know, what His eyes would have looked like. You know we

hear a radio announcer on the radio, or some celebrity, and

we form a picture in our mind, and an expectation. And I

think through painting or productions… pictures in the

Bible… people have come to a preconceived notion as to what

Christ might have looked like. We could all be very wrong…

(laugh) But I think producers then are looking for a

particular voice, a particular look. And I guess they

probably felt that I fit that to some degree – enough to try

to be convincing. I think if the expectations are not met

reasonably well, that can be distracting.

GENTLE MUSIC

JESUS: WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?

BLIND MAN: TEACHER… I WANT TO SEE!

CLIMAX IN MUSIC, GASPS FROM BLIND MAN, CROWD

BLIND MAN: I CAN SEE! I CAN SEE!

My personal faith impacts the way I see the role of Christ –

the way I have decided on whether to pursue this or not. I

believe very strongly in the story… but more so I do believe

in the Person of Jesus Christ. I think we all do… of course

there will be some that will deny His existence. There will

be some that believe that Jesus Christ is a man… a very kind

man, somehow special. But I think to actually believe that

Christ was in fact the Son of God and was sent to Earth…

that takes us to a whole different level of faith… but also

for me a different level of conviction about why I do this.

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If He truly is the Savior… the One Who redeems us from our

sins and promises us a path to eternal life in Heaven, then

yeah, that’s a different reason to tell the story than just

the fact that He was a nice guy.

MUSIC OVERTURE: ESTABLISH AND HOLD UNDER

I didn’t have to tell a lot of people initially that I was

involved in The Carpenter. I have spent most of my life

clean-shaven, so suddenly people were encountering me with a

beard and with longer hair. And my physical appearance was

just so different that it forced me to tell people what that

all meant. And that was my privilege and I viewed it as an

opportunity to tell people what I was involved with.

JESUS: SAMUEL, LOOK AT YOU! YOU’RE GROWING SO FAST I

CAN HARDLY KEEP UP!

CHILDREN (CLAMOURING): WHAT ABOUT ME? HAVE I GROWN

TOO?

JESUS (LAUGHING) YES, YOU’VE GROWN – YOU’RE ALMOST AS

TALL AS I AM.

MATTHEW: CHILDREN! CHILDREN, DON’T BOTHER JESUS; HE

IS TIRED. LET HIM REST.

JESUS (CHUCKLING): MATTHEW - MATTHEW, NO. LEAVE THE

CHILDREN – THEY’RE NOT BOTHERING ME. I ENJOY THEIR

COMPANY… LET THEM STAY.

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When I first accepted the call to play the role of Christ, I

think my expectations were that it would be a very serious,

somber kind of a role. It has been that to some extent, but

I also have really enjoyed portraying the lighter side of

Christ… playing and laughing with the children, enjoying a

laugh when somebody does something unexpected to the crowd.

I think Christ had a lighter side to Him. He was a magnetic

personality, and that doesn’t come from just being serious

and sober. It comes from Someone Who enjoyed life and

enjoyed people… enjoyed being with people. So I think there

would have been a lot of fun in that, and I think even His

teaching had some humour in it. He taught in parables and

stories, and I think often those stories were very amusing

and very intriguing to people. So I think to that extent my

expectations changed, and I started to see more so the real

Christ in scriptures as you start to look at the lines and

the words that He spoke. He wasn’t always the solemn Person

that you see in pictures or imagine.”

MUSIC EASTERN MUSIC: ESTABLISH AND HOLD UNDER

The Carpenter is different from some other Passion plays

that I have seen or heard of. It is a fairly fast-moving

play. It has a lot of little twists and turns. It has some

light humour in it. And it is spoken in a modern-day

language that I think people can relate to. The situations

that they see before them and the way the characters are

portrayed… they say “Hey, that looks like my neighbour,

Joe!”… You know they can relate. They’ve seen characters

like this before, and they start to realize that these are

very ordinary people. And that is I think what makes it

special.
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MUSIC FADES TO AMBIENCE: CROWDS GATHERING, SLIGHT WIND

The stage is sort of in the centre of the production, but

the interesting part of being in the valley is… various

parts of the production – the scene in the Garden of

Gethsemane and the crucifixion scene… those are both taken

off of the stage and are brought into the natural setting of

the hillsides. So the garden and the tomb are set up on the

left side of the stage, up in the hills. The crucifixion

again – set up on the right side of the stage, up on a

hilltop. So it’s an amazing experience to watch it, because

you certainly feel like you could be there.

PRIEST: I HAVE A QUESTION: THESE PEOPLE SEEM TO

BELIEVE YOU ARE TRUTHFUL – THAT YOU SPEAK AND TEACH

WHAT IS RIGHT, AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED BY WHAT OTHERS

THINK. TELL US THEREFORE, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS:

IS IT RIGHT TO PAY TAXES TO THE ROMAN GOVERNMENT, OR

NOT?

JESUS: GIVE ME A COIN (PRIEST HESITATES) FOR

DEMONSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY – I’LL RETURN IT. (FAINT

LAUGHTER) WHOSE PICTURE AND TITLE ARE STAMPED ON IT?

PRIEST: WHY, CEASAR’S OF COURSE!

JESUS: THEN I SAY, GIVE TO CEASAR WHAT BELONGS TO HIM.

BUT EVERYTHING THAT BELONGS TO GOD MUST ALSO BE GIVEN

TO GOD.

The first time I committed to playing the role of Christ, I

wrestled with that a lot, because I am by no means a perfect

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person, and Christ was perfect in the sense that He was

without sin in His life here on earth. So I think I felt a

lot that… Who am I to play the character? And I think

finally the realization came to me that we are all

imperfect. There is no one on this earth that is worthy to

really portray this role. And whether I stand before a

friend and tell him the story of Christ through my words, I

think I can also tell the story through acting it. And I

can’t worry too much about my imperfections. I have said to

many that playing Christ onstage for me is relatively easy.

For me it’s playing the part of Christ off the stage that is

very very difficult… in my workplace and in my home.

Sometimes people joke with my wife, “What’s it like living

with Christ?” And I’m glad she’s not always completely

honest, because (laugh) we know that in my home that I’m

certainly not perfect.

MUSIC CRUCIFY HIM!

AMBIENCE ANGRY CROWDS

I recall the first time I ever laid my body onto the cross…

I found that very very difficult. I found myself thinking

“Who am I to be in this holy place?” Because I viewed the

image of the cross to be a very holy image. And to see the

pictures and portrayals of Christ hanging on the cross… I

thought, “Who am I to be in this position, with my arms

stretched out, and portraying this?” And after a few

practices, wrestling with that, I think it was God’s quiet

little voice in my heart that finally opened my eyes. And I

realized that this cross is not a holy place at all. In

fact the cross is an instrument of torture, it is an

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instrument of execution… it is the equivalent probably to

today’s electric chair, or a noose, or a guillotine. So

really this was a terrible place, and when you go back to

scripture, it promises that this place really was mine.

This was my place, and because Christ sacrificed His life,

then I don’t have to be on there. So it has become a holy

place because of what Christ did for us. And we honour that

image of the cross. When we see it empty we don’t see our

bodies on there – we just remember the Person Who sacrificed

for us.

ROMAN SOLDIER: IF YOU ARE KING OF THE JEWS, NOW IS THE

TIME TO SAVE YOURSELF (LAUGHTER)

JESUS (FROM CROSS): FATHER, FORGIVE THESE PEOPLE, FOR

THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING.

I find I have to dig very deep into my inner passions, and

really put forth everything I have to portray a violent and

gruesome death in a way that makes people believe that this

Person – that Christ really did suffer – to make it feel as

though, “Wow, somebody did give up something for me.” That

takes some special energy, and I’ve always been quite

pleased at the way that has happened. And I think people

have been blessed by the way that has been portrayed. So

it’s been a special thing for me to be part of that, and to

make Christ very very real at that moment – the moment where

people are actually moved to tears, and realize the

sacrifice that was made.

JESUS (FROM CROSS): IT IS FINISHED! FATHER, INTO YOUR

HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT!

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MASSIVE THUNDERCLAPS, EARTHQUAKE, PEOPLE SCREAMING

ROMAN SOLDIER: TRULY THIS MAN WAS THE SON OF GOD!

SILENCE, THEN MORE SOBBING FROM ONLOOKERS, SLOW

DRUMBEATS

I have traveled home with a few scrapes and bruises. The

moments on the cross – it’s actually quite a physically

demanding time. I’m not nailed onto the cross as Christ

was, but it does take some physical strength to maintain

that position, and to try to make it look believable and

make it look real. So I often go home with very tired arms

and legs and bruises… and I can get home and feel a little

sorry for myself, but I also look forward to the next day,

and it’s all good.

MUSIC LAST SUPPER: ESTABLISH AND HOLD UNDER

It does change me… it has impacted me, it has made me a

little bit different. If people are asking whether it’s

changed me dramatically or whether I’m a completely

different person, the answer to that is no. I believe I

have had a good foundation and good roots. I was raised in

a home with the beliefs I carry today. They’ve become my

beliefs and not my parents’ anymore. But this is what I

believe - this is what I try to live every day.

MARY MAGDALA: HE IS ALIVE! HE SPOKE TO ME – I SAW

HIM! IT’S TRUE! HE IS ALIVE!

JOHN: BUT WHAT…

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MARY MAGDALA: I WAS CRYING AT THE TOMB AND A MAN

ASKED, “MY CHILD, WHY ARE YOU CRYING?” AND I LOOKED UP

AND I THOUGHT IT WAS THE GARDENER AND I ASKED HIM TO

PLEASE TELL ME WHERE THEY HAD TAKEN MY LORD. AND HE

SAID, “MARY.” HE SPOKE TO ME AND I KNEW HIM. AND HE

TOLD ME TO COME AND TO TELL YOU AS WELL THAT HE IS

ALIVE… HE REALLY IS!

PETER: JOHN… HOW COULD THIS BE?

JOHN: COULD THIS BE WHAT HE’S BEEN TRYING TO TELL US?

COME, LET’S GO SEE FOR OURSELVES – COME!

I have gained an appreciation - a greater appreciation for

what Christ did for me. In that sense it has changed my

outlook on times of the year, like Christmas and Easter –

those moments when we really reflect on the life of Christ

and the death of Christ. It has only given me more

assurance of my salvation and of things to come. And it has

caused me to think about Christ as a real Person – as

Someone Who lived on this earth. As Christians, we often

have some real distance with that thought. But to bring it

home and to actually feel like, “Hey if we’d have actually

been there, we would have connected with this guy.” He was

in some ways an average guy, but in other ways an extremely

attractive personality. So I think He’s become more real to

me. That’s been the biggest change in me.

MUSIC EXIT MUSIC: ESTABLISH AND HOLD UNDER

When I go home after a performance, I’m quite pumped, so to

speak. When I do finally relax, I do have a good night’s

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sleep, because I’m quite exhausted. I’m quite tired

physically. But I feel energized – I really feel charged

up, I feel like I’ve accomplished something. I remember one

time… when the production was over, I said, “You know if I

could choose a time in life when I could die, now would be

the time.” It’s not as though I desired to lose or end my

life, but I think if one wants to end life on a positive

note with the feeling of having accomplished something – of

having done something that is meaningful to me personally

and to others around me, and to my God… sometimes those are

those moments where you say, “Okay God – now’s the time for

that flaming chariot. Pick me up and take me home, and I’m

done.” But I guess God has not decided that I’m done yet.

He’s keeping me here for a purpose, and we don’t know what

the future holds, but we know who holds the future. And I

hope to continue to be obedient to His calling and leading.

MUSIC EXIT MUSIC: GENTLE ENDING