Kingdom Undone is a beautiful, well-acted piece of theater happening in the Twin Cities through Easter Sunday (April 8) at the Southern Theater. I hesitate to call it a Passion Play, simply because I don’t want people to dismiss it right off the bat, but that’s what it is–a theatrical account of the last days of Jesus Christ.
This is a brand-spankin’-new play written by homegrown talent Jeremiah Gamble of Theater for the Thirsty. Their website describes Kingdom Undone as follows:
When revolution spins out of control, Judas Iscariot, and a young Zealot named Isaac rush toward their ultimate liberation, or their undoing. Kingdom Undone merges earthy drama, music and unexpected humor with the passion of Jesus’ final days and the messy justice that turned the world on its head.
The acting was fantastic. The man who plays Judas is just awesome, and Jeremiah Gamble plays Jesus, and does so with such grace and strength. It was phenomenal to watch him bring that character (of all characters to have to try to play) off the pages of our Bibles and attempt to convey his heart in flesh-and-blood form.
For me, I love a reminder that the people I read about in the gospels were actual people. They had inflection. And voices. And mannerisms. And personality conflicts.
And Jesus himself truly was a God-Man! He had an actual, physical voice and warm-blooded hands that touched the poor and needy and unclean.
I’ll admit that in reading the same gospel accounts over and over, it can become kind of rote and unimaginative for me. And therefore kinda heartless. So I’m thankful for people like Jeremiah and his cast and crew who take the risk and put these sacred words into human form for us to remember.
I’d never seen a Passion Play before and I’m so glad this was my first. It stirs the heart. It sparks the mind. It feeds the soul. Loved it! Five stars!
I’d also not be giving the show enough credit if I didn’t mention how awesome the actual stage is (the Southern is a really cool space), how creative the set was, how moving the music was, and how stunning the lighting was. I could go on and on. Really, this is all-around a beautiful piece of theater.
They also have a Facebook page to peruse, so go ahead and do that on your journey to purchasing tickets!
