The Passion Play Synopsis

Play Synopsis

Act 1

Scene 1: Building the Rood

In this first scene in the Act Carpenter 1, Sam, measures John the Fisherman on a cross. Before the dialogue begins the audience should be unsure as to whether or not this is an actual crucifixion, as it states in the stage directions. Carpenter 1, Sam, John and Carpenter 2, Simon, are having a conversation about John’s growing bones and how it affects the measurements. John makes a comment that his cousin’ bones had stopped growing a few years ago so perhaps he should then play the part of Jesus. This sparks the carpenters to voice how they see Pontius, John’s cousin. They don’t believe Pontius could play the role of Jesus in the play because they see him as odd in his disfigurements and ultimately miniscule to John. Although John and Pontius are twins they are unalike in the carpenters’ eyes because John towers over Pontius in numerous ways. During the conversation the sky turns red, which alarms the characters. Perhaps the mention of Pontius is what turns the sky red? There is significance to this peculiar occurrence that the playwright, Sarah Ruhl, wants to draw attention to.

Scene 2: Pontius and a Traveling Friar

In this scene we begin to understand the relationship between Pontius and John. Pontius is jealous of his acclaimed cousin because he wishes that he could play the part of Jesus in the Passion play put on by the village. Pontius yearns to not only play the savior but be the savior so that he can have glory, and perhaps be healed of his crooked back and damaged hand and seen as perfect, holy. Pontius mentions the sky turning red and feels that it is significant, that it should be given notice. The Visiting Friar and Pontius cross each other’s paths and meet within this scene. They have a brief conversation about the upcoming play. The Visiting Friar mentions the daring-ness of the town to perform such a play ‘in these dark times.” Pontius answers that the town is reluctant to change and he clarifies what role he plays in the Passion; he plays the role of Satan. It’s no surprise that he plays Satan because of the disfigurements he has and the resentment he holds towards his cousin. The Visiting Friar wishes to meet the great John the Fisherman, that plays Jesus, to see if the rumors of his holy characteristics are true.

Scene 3: John the Fisherman’s Kitchen, day

In this scene the Visiting Friar is taken aback by John the Fisherman’s appearance and kind hearted hospitality. The Visiting Friar finds the rumors about John’s likeness to Christ to be true upon meeting him. Through this scene it is revealed that the “dark times” are due to the abolishment of the Catholic religion, priests throughout England are in hiding. The Visiting Friar is in disguise, he is a priest seeking refuge; John offers him to stay with him given the Friar’s circumstances. John’s kindness confirms the Visiting Friar’s beliefs of him, but John claims he is merely playing a role, “You’ll see that I’m no better than the tattered costume that I wear.”

Scene 4: The Village Idiot

The heavenly choir rehearses for the play while the Director conducts them. The Village Idiot is cross-legged in the town square playing with her jack-in-the-box as the stage directions indicate. The Village Idiot seems to speak in gibberish, but there is a deeper meaning behind what this character is saying. For example, the Village Idiot says, “The heavenly choir rehearses…no part for Jack or me, oh no. You just pop out of a box, don’t you, Jack? And I just wind you because things need to be wound-clocks-tick tick-hearts-tick tick- oh! Beautiful, beautiful Jack with your heart in a box.” Perhaps the deeper meaning behind what this character is saying is that time persists on and waits for no one. Time moves forward the process of life, and who runs this cycle of time and life? The Village Idiot winds jack-in-the-box determining when it will pop out of the box. Who or what is winding the people of the village? Is it the Passion play that sets the village in motion?

Scene 5: Mary and Mary

The stage directions state that John the Fisherman is in a loincloth rehearsing the Crucifixion scene with the Director. Mary 1, who plays the Virgin Mary in the Passion play and Mary 2, who plays Mary Magdalen look on and discuss John the Fisherman and bedding men. Mary 1 is attracted to John and notices his slipping loincloth, but Mary 2 has no interest in John or really any men for that matter. Mary 2 states that she pretends things like Mary Magdalen did. In this scene it is slightly hinted that Mary 2 isn’t attracted to men, she just pretends to be. She actually finds bedding men to be boring. Because of Mary 1’s strong interest in John and Mary 2’s lack of interest in him she suggests that Mary 1 ask if they can switch parts. Their request is denied and the director makes an extremely blunt comment, “I’m sorry, ladies, but you’ve signed your contracts. And besides you look like a saint and you look like a whore. There’s no getting around it.” Through this line the theme of identity is highlighted because the Director is classifying the Mary’s as certain kinds of women and that determines the role they play in the Passion and ultimately the role that they fill in life.

Scene 6: At the Confessional

Mary 2 confesses to the Friar that she has dreams of women kissing her and she enjoys them. The Friar suggests that she change parts and do religious rituals in order to rid herself of such dreams. Mary 2 states that she is good at pretending, and therefore no one can replace her in her role because of her talent to pretend. This idea of Mary 2 being able to pretend ties into the themes of identity and secrecy within the play. She recognizes that she is different but tells no one, other then the Friar, of her secret pleasures that make her different. In the scene the sky turns red after the Visiting Friar says, “Ask God, Mary. Only God can explain, only God-the Father.” I think that the playwright, Sarah Ruhl, writes in the stage directions that the sky turns red in order to convey a particular message to the audience. The sky turns red when Ruhl wants you to take notice to a particular message that a character gives off. For example, when the Friar says that only God has the answer this is something that Ruhl wants her audience to contemplate and question, does only God have the answers? The sky turning red draws attention to the dramatic questions and the themes within the written play.

Scene 7

Pontius alone is in this scene. He talks of his grief that he has. He speaks of his belly button, that it wasn’t sewn right by his birthing doctor and you can reach your finger into his belly button and when you pull it out it smells of fish. I think that this is a metaphor for what he feels is his place in life. Pontius is miserable because he is a fish gutter, and he feels he got the lower end of the stick inbeing placed in that position. He envies that his cousin, John, catches the fish, while he is left with the dirty work of gutting out their insides. Pontius has to look at death all day while John gets to look at the vast sea, full of life. Pontius’ jealousy and envy of John is highlighted in his monologue in this scene.

Scene 8: Night

In this scene Mary talks about being lonely at night. It is insinuated through her talking about being kept warm by other men that she has slept around with, and she wonders why and how she has not gotten pregnant yet. She goes off in the night and runs into John the Fisherman, whom she is infatuated with. It seems as though she lies about her mother being ill and asks John to climb above her to trap the night air in a jar she can bring back to her mother. But really she just wants to check him out from behind, or that can be assumed through the blocking directions that state, “She scrutinizes him form behind.” Mary’s intentions were to lure him to her bed with her but she is not successful. Pontius was hiding behind a bush watching their encounter and is annoyed that John would attract the attention of the beautiful Mary 1.

Scene 9: The Fall of Man- A Rehearsal

This scene is a rehearsal for the Passion play of when the serpent tempts Eve into biting into the forbidden fruit. There is sexual tension in this scene between Pontius and Mary 1. Mary 1 is timid at first towards biting into the apple, but the director told her that the juice of the apple should dribble down her chin. The second time she bites the apple a large chunk is taken. Pontius seems moved by Mary 1 having a large piece of fruit in her mouth. It seems like the playwright is drawing attention to another theme, which is sexuality. This part of the written play seems to poke at the idea of oral sex perhaps, or Pontius’ attraction towards Mary 1.

Scene 10: Night

In the beginning of this scene Pontius talks to the audience about his fish gutting experience where he gutted a fish and baby live fish spilled out of the mother’s belly. He killed the last surviving lonely one. I think that this is an example of the wickedness in him or an example of the true grief that he feels. Perhaps this experience is a metaphor for how he sees himself. A miserable, small meek fish that is alone waiting to die. Pontius then sees Mary 1 and he converses with her about why she is out walking in the night. Mary 1 seems to be disturbed by him at first, and Pontius is confidant that he can woo her. They share a few kisses between each other. No one can know of their meeting and this draws to another theme of the play, which is secrecy because if anyone knew of their encounter then Mary 1 could loser her role, and her reputation as this saint she appears to be.

Scene 11

The Village Idiot has a vision of the Queen of England. In the vision, or dream, the Queen was naked and pregnant with child, and the Queen said to the Village Idiot that she will stop the Passion. Will this prophecy come true? Perhaps this is a way for the playwright, Sarah Ruhl, to foreshadow what will happen later in her written play. Perhaps the Village Idiot isn’t actually an idiot. This touches on the theme of irony in the play because the Village Idiot is the one that actually withholds knowledgeable information.

Scene 12: In the Forest

This scene is just between Mary 1 and Mary 2. It emphasizes on the theme of secrecy because Mary 1 without saying it is telling Mary 2 that she is pregnant, but she doesn’t want to leave until she gets to do her part in the Passion. What gives away that she is pregnant and by who is the last line in the scene that Mary 1 says, “I dream, night after night, that I give birth to a fish…a huge, ugly, dead fish with a gaping mouth.” Pontius must be the father of her unborn child, since he is the only one that deals with dead fish and that is the major hint there that it is him. Mary 2 tells Mary 1 she could be killed. The Passion isn’t merely just a play they put on but a guideline to how the people of the village lead their lives; she could be killed for being impregnated outside of marriage, especially by Pontius, who plays Satan. This draws to the theme of sin within the written play because Mary 1 has committed a sin in what she has done.

Scene 13: The Flying Machine

In this scene the Machinist compares himself to God because he can make the actors fly, he gives them that power through the mechanicals that he builds. This reference to God touches on the theme of irony in the written play because God can orchestrate things he is the one that has the power to enable people to do extraordinary things like flying. The ironic part of this is that the Machinist enables the actors to fly through his technological developments not through any sort of almighty power that he has. The irony in this scene as well is that Mary 1 is actually pregnant in the written play, and in the Passion play they are doing the scene where the angel Gabriel comes to inform Mary that she will give birth to Jesus, the messiah. The sky turns red at the end of this scene, which emphasizes the themes being revealed.

Scene 14: Mary Visits Pontius at Work

In this scene Mary 1 goes to Pontius to tell him that he is the father of her child. Pontius wants to run away with Mary and marry her, but she rejects him. This angers Pontius because he told her that she is the Virgin Mary to him, that she doesn’t need to play the part anymore she can live it with him. This is all very contradictory because she can’t just have her baby in a manger and pretend that she is the Virgin Mary because she isn’t. She is the farthest she could possibly be from being the Virgin Mary. Mary 1 realizes that they couldn’t run off together and she wouldn’t to live a lie, she says, “ My wedding dress would turn red…Dreses-they know things-you think they don’t-they hang so quietly, but they know things the way you know things and I know things and they tell-oh, yes.”

Scene 15: Mary and Mary

Mary 2 tells Mary 1 that she has an idea and whispers it to her; perhaps Mary 2 has a solution for Mary 1 for her predicament. This hints at the theme of secrecy.

Scene 16: At the Confessional

The idea that Mary 2 had was to have Mary 1 tell everyone that God impregnated her so that she can better play the part of the Virgin Mary. In this scene it can be assumed that that was what Mary 2 whispered to her because she “confesses” to the Visiting Friar that God impregnated her and she wanted him to be the first to know. Of course this is a lie to cover for the sin that she committed with Pontius. This scene reminds the audience of the themes of sin, identity, and secrecy. It’s a sin because Mary 1 is lying to a Priest, it is a reference to identity because Mary 1 deeply wants to be seen as the Virgin Mary, and it ties in with the theme of secrecy because Mary 2 instilled this lie literally though whispering it to Mary 1.

Scene 17: The Death of Pontius Pilate-A Rehearsal

In this scene the death of Pontius’s character in the Passion play is staged. The Visiting Friar comes in to tell the director and actors that Mary 1 is with child, but through God. In the stage directions it states, “Pontius gives the Visiting Friar a wild look. A tableau.” Pontius knows that Mary 1 is with his child, not with God’s child.

Scene 18: Mary is Visited by Jesus

In this scene John tells Mary that he believes her, he isn’t aware that Mary 1 is lying. He tells Marry that he would like to marry her and raise the child as Mary and Joseph. Its almost as if Mary 1 foreshadows something when she says, “If anything were to happen to me, would you raise the child? Be its father?” Does Mary 1 plan on having something happen to her? Does she realize in her encounter with John that this lie may be too much for her to bear?

Scene 19: The Scourging-A Rehearsal

In this scene Carpenter 2 questions whether or not Mary 1 is telling the truth about baring the Messiah. He thinks that she is too pretty to be honest and that she lay with a man. Pontius gets defensive and brawls with him. John the Fisherman breaks up the commotion, he is still unaware of the truth and says they should be celebrating because Mary 1 has been blessed to bare the Messiah. The Director enters and they rehearse the scene where Jesus is whipped. This scene is interesting because it shows the audience that some of the characters in the written play are beginning to question Mary 1’s pregnancy. This scene addresses the theme of irony because Carpenter 2 is right on in his accusation of Mary 1.

Scene 20: John and Pontius

This is a big scene because Pontius basically tells John the Fisherman that Mary 1 is pregnant with his child not God’s child. It is left up to the audience to decide whether or not John actually believes his cousin Pontius.

Scene 21: Mary and Mary

In this scene Mary 2 tells Mary 1 that she loves her and wishes to run away with her. Mary 1 can’t bear the rumors that are going on about her. She tells Mary 2, “I have to leave alone, and where I’m going, no one can follow me.” This is a large hint to the audience that Mary 1 intends on taking her own life. Before Mary 1 goes she kisses Mary 2 on the lips. It makes the audience question whether or not Mary 1 had feelings for Mary 2 all along, or if she wanted to fulfill a continuous dream that Mary 2 is often pleasured by. Following the kiss the sky turns red.

Scene 22: The Town Square

The Village Idiot foretells that Mary 1 has drowned herself in the ocean. Again this touches on the theme of irony in the written play because the Village Idiot is the character in the written play that provides the audience with important information. The Village Idiot is like the narrator in a sense. The Visiting Friar informs the Director that the Passion must be ended, that God has spoken to him to end it. The Director argues that much work has gone into the play and he made a promise to perform the play to the glory of God since the plague struck. The Friar argues that with Mary 1 missing it feels as though something is very wrong. The Village Idiot is asked to step in to play the part of the Virgin Mary. The significance of that may be the desperation of the Director to continue the play.

Scene 23: The Passion

John the Fisherman prays to God asking him to help him play the part of Christ well, and prays that Mary 1 will find her way home. Pontius over hears and swears to the Lord that he will kill John out of Jealousy. Pontius doesn’t want to hear John speak of Mary 1, maybe because he feels that he is more entitled to her since she is carrying his child. Again the theme of jealousy is addressed.

Scene 24: The Play

The Passion just starts with the Adam and Eve scene when the play is interrupted by a visit from Queen Elizabeth. She stops the production of the Passion and says that if they are found continuing the production of the play that they will be beheaded. When she leaves she asks if anyone as anything to confess, slowing up as she passes the Visiting Friar. No one speaks, and she says that she will have their houses all searched just incase.

The theme of identity is emphasized here because the Queen plays a powerful role over the people of the village; she has the power to completely stop their play and does so.

Scene 25: John the Fisherman’s Kitchen

The Visiting Friar tells John the Fisherman that he must head for France, after the Queen’s visit he can’t stay in the village. John confesses to the Friar that he thinks he enjoyed playing the role of Christ more then he should have. They then say their good byes.

Scene 26: The Town Square

All of the actors of the Passion are handing in their costumes to the Director to be sold. John the Fisherman enters with the body of Mary 1 that is dripping wet. Being the Fisherman that he is he was able to fish her out of the see, and the other characters in the written play look on in horror.

Scene 27: The Death of Pontius

In this scene the stage directions state that it is dream-like. Pontius kills himself over the body of Mary 1. He states that he can’t live on without her. He says, “There is nothing left for me, Mary, but to find you. I will swim to you, arms outstretched” Pontius believes he will find Mary when he dies; he truly believes that with her gone there is nothing left for him in the world.

This is the end of Act 1.