Performing the Passion of Christ in Postmodernity
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Performing the Passion of Christ in Postmodernity: American Passion/passion Plays as Ritual and Postmodern Theatre By Copyright 2012 Seokhun Choi Submitted to the graduate degree program in Theatre and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ________________________________ Henry Bial, Chairperson ________________________________ Omofolabo Ajayi-Soyinka ________________________________ John Gronbeck-Tedesco ________________________________ Mechele Leon ________________________________ Sandra Zimdars-Swartz Date Defended: February 27th, 2012 The Dissertation Committee for Seokhun Choi certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Performing the Passion of Christ in Postmodernity: American Passion/passion Plays as Ritual and Postmodern Theatre ________________________________ Henry Bial, Chairperson Date approved: April 6th, 2012 ii Abstract The dissertation investigates American theatrical performances based on the Passion of Christ as related in the Four Gospels of the New Testament. I compare three Midwestern Passion plays, The New Great Passion Play (Eureka Springs, AR), The Promise (Glen Rose, TX) and The Man Who Ran (Disney, OK) to four notable adaptations of the Passion narrative written by contemporary mainstream American playwrights, Adrienne Kennedy’s Motherhood 2000 (1994), Terrence McNally’s Corpus Christi (1997), Sarah Ruhl’s Passion Play: A Cycle (2004) and Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Our Lady of 120th Street (2004) in order to examine their theatrical and ritualistic aspects, as well as their social, cultural and political functions and problems. For analytical purposes, I distinguish the two groups by calling the former, which are performed in the mode of belief, “Passion plays” and the latter, which are performed in the mode of critique, “passion plays.” As the major theoretical framework, I adopt the theories of ritual studies represented by anthropologists Victor Turner, David Kertzer, Clifford Geertz and Catherine Bell, and the discourse of postmodernism as defined by French philosophers Jean-François Lyotard and Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. These interdisciplinary case studies on American Passion/passion plays as both ritual and theatre demonstrate the viability, rather than the demise, of the metanarrative of the Passion, which is transformed into small narratives in postmodernity. Additionally, the case studies highlight the multifaceted nature of performance, which attests to the necessity of an interdisciplinary approach to performances in general. The comparative analysis between the Passion plays and the passion plays is also intended as a showcase of difficult dialogues between the conservative and the liberal. iii Acknowledgements There are so many people I would like to thank. First of all, my thanks goes to my graduate advisor and dissertation chair Professor Henry Bial. As a teacher, his influence over my thought process, pedagogy and politics cannot be overstated. As an advisor, his professionalism and support were indispensable to my five years at the University of Kansas. I am also grateful to my other dissertation committee members including Professor John Gronbeck-Tedesco for teaching me how to think and to respect students, Professor Mechele Leon for her encouragement and acute criticisms, Professor Omofolabo Ajayi-Soyinka for her practical suggestions for revision and Professor Sandra Zimdars-Swartz from the Humanities and Western Civilization Program for assenting to be part of the committee and providing helpful comments. I also thank Professor Delores Ringer, Professor Dennis Christilles and Professor Jeanne Klein for providing me with wonderful teaching/working experiences at KU, and Professor Jack B. Wright for being a model director and friendly grandfather and Professor Paul Zimdars-Swartz in the Religious Studies Department for stimulating my theological interest with his invaluable resources. The dissertation would not have been possible without the kindness of Sam Ray, the Executive Director of The New Great Passion Play, Travis Tyre, the Director of The Promise, and Bill and Linda Goldner at Picture in Scripture Amphitheatre who patiently answered all my questions about their shows in detail. I also want to express my thanks to Professor Susan Neal at SUNY Potsdam and Professor John Fletcher at LSU for their hospitality during my visits to see their college productions, and Sarah Fennessey at SUNY for sharing her wonderful dramaturgy archive with me. I thank KU Office of Graduate Studies, KU Theatre Department and Professor iv Joseph R. Roach at Yale University for supporting my project with their generous funds to make these fieldtrips possible. I will never forget the joy and friendship that I shared with the colleagues and friends I met in Lawrence including my Jayhawk buddies/co-workers Boone and Chandra Hopkins, Jeff List, James Diemer, Jocelyn Buckner, Katrina Bondari, Ashley Swetnam, Lynn Deboeck, Alison Christy, the entire cast and crew of Lobby Hero, all past and present members of the Interactive Theatre Troupe, InterVarsity GCF fellows Denny and Judy Chadwick et al, and all the people I met at the Korean Presbyterian Church of Lawrence. Among them, my special thanks goes to Jean Bosch, a former Jayhawk/GCF member, who shared similar interests and vision with me and so kindly offered to take time to proofread my entire dissertation draft. The completion of the program would not have been possible without the prayer and support of my family. My parents, my brother Elmo and my sister Suji are the source of my pride and confidence. It reminds me how blessed I am to think how you all loved me even when I did not deserve it. Grace, my wife and the love of my life, and my parents-in-law, my great material and spiritual sponsors, are the three new family members that I acquired during the process, and I could not ask for any better! I love you all so much! Finally, I give my highest honor and utmost thanks and praise to Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. I hope those walking in the darkness will see the same light I saw in Him and the same life I found in Him, and I pray that His Kingdom – where there is no more tears, suffering and oppression – will come soon. Maranatha! v Table of Contents Abstract------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- iii Acknowledgements------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ iv Preface: Note on Passion/passion-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Introduction--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 Part I. Passion Plays as Ritual----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31 Chapter 1. The New Great Passion Play in Eureka Springs, Arkansas---------------------------- 39 Eureka Springs and the Sacred Projects--------------------------------------------------------------- 40 The New Great Passion Play: “More than Just a Play”--------------------------------------------- 43 The New Great Passion Play and the Politics-------------------------------------------------------- 59 Chapter 2. Re-Membering the Promise: The Promise in Glen Rose, TX--------------------------- 71 The Past and Present of Glen Rose and The Promise----------------------------------------------- 72 The Public Ritual of Re-Membering “The Promise”------------------------------------------------ 82 Evaluating The Promise--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 98 Chapter 3. The Man Who Ran and How Ritual Works---------------------------------------------- 106 Disney and the Beginning of the “Passion” Ministry---------------------------------------------- 108 The Man Who Ran: A Performance Analysis------------------------------------------------------- 116 Race, Politics and Ritual Aspects of The Man Who Ran------------------------------------------ 125 Gender and Sexuality in Passion Plays-------------------------------------------------------------- 129 vi Part II. The passion Plays as Postmodern Theatre and Alternative Ritual------------------------- 134 Chapter 4. From Brecht to Boal: Sarah Ruhl’s Passion Play: A Cycle and Adrienne Kennedy’s Motherhood 2000 as Anti-Ritual--------------------------------------------------------------- 138 Epic Theatre in Ruhl’s Passion Play: A Cycle----------------------------------------------------- 139 The Theatre of the Oppressed and Adrienne Kennedy’s Motherhood 2000-------------------- 154 Chapter 5. Towards Micro-narratives: Terrence McNally’s Corpus Christi and Stephen A. Guirgis’ Our Lady of 120th Street------------------------------------------------------------- 168 Corpus Christi as Alternative Ritual----------------------------------------------------------------- 170 The Passion Schizophrenia in Our Lady of 121st Street------------------------------------------ 190 Conclusion: A Difficult Dialogue----------------------------------------------------------------------- 208 Works Cited------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 214 vii Preface: Note on Passion/passion The dissertation project revolves around American theatrical performances that are generally called “Passion plays.” Although it is not a newly-coined term, its usage in this study needs some clarification. The word “passion”