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| Photo by Carrie Nicholson |
Every
other year, during the Holy Week that leads up to Easter, our congregation has
made a tradition of presenting a drama called The Living Last Supper. We began in 2008 after the Rev. Dr. Tony
Metze came to be our pastor at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Columbia,
S.C. During our last production in 2012, he celebrated his twentieth
anniversary of participating in the drama with his previous and current congregations.
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| Photo by Colleen Arnold |
In
The Living Last Supper, Leonardo
DaVinci’s famous fresco, “The Last Supper,” from the
Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy is recreated on the
stage and brought to life. The disciples gather in the Upper Room and with Jesus.
After inviting them to join him at the table, Jesus tells his disciples, “One
of you will betray me.” All the performers freeze in the positions depicted in
the painting. Then, each disciple is spotlighted individually to speak about
his life and experience with Jesus. At the end of each monologue, the disciple
asks the question, “Is it I?”
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| Photo by Colleen Arnold |
Pastor
Tony plays Jesus. We have assembled twelve men from our congregation
and community to play the disciples. They are: John Arnold
(Philip), Jim Coward (Simon), Reggie Hall (Thaddeus), Jim Jarvis (James the
Lesser), Olin Jenkins (Peter), Neil Lown (John), Jim Nantz (Thomas), Randy
Nolff (Nathaniel), Arthur Suggs (Andrew), Scott Stepp (Judas), Danny Varn
(James the Elder), Mark Wade (Matthew). Eight of the participants have
performed the same role in our four presentations. All have studied their
characters’ lives to give greater depth to their portrayals.
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| Photo by Carrie Nicholson |
Our costumer, Edith Varn, has worked
tirelessly to create outfits that match the artist’s rendition. In addition,
she has provided costuming for our narrators, who have changed from one
presentation to the next. In the 2010 production, we had a person portraying
Leonardo Da Vinci explain his painting to his young apprentice and his
apprentice’s mother. This year, we have three ladies begin the drama by
playing Joanna (Brenda Byrd), Susanna (Valerie Ward), and Mary Magdalene (Nancy
Jane Stock), also Jesus’ followers, and explaining the events of the week that
preceded the meal in the Upper Room. In our presentations in 2008 and 2010, we
had a single female performer sing a solo from Jesus Christ Superstar. After we were charged royalties for the
second production’s use of the solo, we wrote our own song, “World Without
End.”
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| Photo by Carrie Nicholson |
Counting all who have performed in
or contributed efforts to the production, about thirty people are involved,
including: set builders and painters (Barry Norcutt and Sue Husman); poster and
program developers and assemblers (Susan Craft, Alice Richardson,
and Libby Adams); lighting and sound technicians (Dean Long and Billy Itter); a
make-up assistant (Peggyjo Coward); a musician who plays both guitar and cello
(Rachel Watson); a producer (John W. Henry); and a director, myself. Plus
lovely people like Jane Long, Peggyjo Coward, and Marty Nantz who feed us, and
Colleen Arnold, Heather Coates, and Carrie Nicholson who take photos of our
production.
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| Photo by Carrie Nicholson |
I’m so grateful for the diligent
work of the Living Last Supper’s cast,
crew, and supporters. We began rehearsals at the end January and have continued
each Sunday and Monday until the performances that took place on Tuesday, April
15, Wednesday, April 16, and Thursday, April 17, 2014. Each night, almost two hundred people attended. The performances were free and included an opportunity to receive communion from “Jesus and the disciples”
who left the stage and brought the bread and wine to the audience.
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| Photo by Colleen Arnold |
For each production, we select a
cast project. This year, we collected over $1,000 for a local program called
Transitions, which helps the homeless obtain education, job skills, medical
attention, and permanent housing.
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| Photo by Colleen Arnold |
Thank you to all who have
participated in and who have come to see our production.
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| Photo by Carrie Nicholson |
