Last night I saw Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play at the Irondale Center in Brooklyn presented by the Epic Theater Ensemble. What an incredible piece of art!
I have been a HUGE fan of Sarah Ruhl ever since I saw Eurydice at Second Stage in 2007 which just took my heart (I don't even know if that's a saying, but that's what it did.) Passion Play was just as moving and the production is just beautiful. The show is 3 hours long with 2 intermissions, but I nearly cried, I didn't want it to end (like literally). It's a wonderful look at history and religion and humanity. It's funny and poignant and intense, and it takes you on a journey that you just get swept up in. Each act focuses on the passion play during a different era in history, and the production creates such an atmosphere of community between the actors and the audience and the space (a beautiful community room inside a church (how fitting)), that speaks so well to the passion play as the community event it was, that this is more an experience than a piece of theater, and an amazing one at that.
It's only running until June 5th, but if you have a chance, RUN AND SEE THIS!
* The link above includes a short, but great video about the making of the piece (they are much more eloquent about it than I am)