If you haven't seen The Thorn before, they call it 'the Passion meets Cirque du Soleil' for a reason... Pretty giant WOW factor in this show, with some huge doses of reality to the Western 'safe' version of the story of Jesus we've all grown up with.
The production is packed full of actors, dancers, aerialists, martial artists, and special effects. Plus some amazing costumes and make-up, and many beautifully done moments throughout the show.
The acting of all the main or prominent roles is quite well done. My only "complaints" (or "critiques," or whatever you want to call them :P ) are pretty minor;
1 -- I would love to see all the Old Testament beginning of the show be just a bit longer... Particularly the Garden of Eden. And perhaps a couple more scenes added... But I think that's probably just me, since I really love the Old Testament stuff. :P
2 -- As I said before, some of the costumes and make-up are pretty amazing. Particularly the Roman soldiers, disciples, religious leaders, the devil, angels, Jesus, and 'In the beginning' creatures. But the general crowd, and some of the dancers and 'supernaturals' just seemed really simple. A bit of the people-dressed-in-bedsheets-thing with much of the crowd. And I love the Out of Egypt part near the beginning, but the Pharaoh (who otherwise really looked his intimidating part) was wearing one of those big fabric 'Pharaoh-costume crowns,' which looked rather silly... I know it's hard to costume such a huge cast, but I wish they'd work a little harder to avoid the 'bedsheet' or 'cloth-crowned-Pharoah' look...
And they should do more with the 3-dimensional set pieces they only use sometimes... Those really add to the whole look and believability of the production. (and sadly, they didn't use them at all this year)
3 -- The biggest thing that bugs me about The Thorn though, is when they dead-stop the show -- not just once, but twice. O_o Once to talk about sponsoring a child through Compassion International (a Thorn business partner), and once for a time to respond to the Gospel or put a prayer request up on one of the huge metal crosses. Both of those things are great, and yes, worthy of time, but NOT in the middle of the production!! The two stops just kill everything they were building up during the last portion, and very obviously remind you that you're watching a play; which is a huge 'no-no' in theater. You loose any feelings you had of how real everything is. The "so this is what it was really like" is gone. And though they do ramp back up to exciting things each time, I would love the show so much more if they just let the action flow, and gave their other messages at the beginning or end of the production.
4 -- And lastly, there are some moments where the way everything was set up, and the way the story was running, I expected some majorly-awesome/wow/thought-provoking scene to follow... And they let it fall flat. O_o What a bummer! It would be nothing short of incredible if they pulled these few scenes just a little deeper -- and the impact of the show as a whole would double. (at least for me; but I believe for others too)
They did do that with the scene where Judas is betraying Jesus. They made very clear the spiritual battle for Judas' soul and his will that was going on at the time, and the momentary 'victories' for the devil at both Judas' betrayal and Jesus' beating and death on the cross. Both VERY well done.
So now if they could only do that with those couple other scenes...! :)
The Romans and Pilate played their parts particularly well. As did the men who played Judas and the devil. And the Angels are always amazing! They did a lot less of the martial-arts and awesome fight scene things this year, which was sad -- but they were still awesome. :)
Best moment in the whole show for me:
A group of children join hands and skip excitedly in a circle as Jesus is entering Jerusalem. Jesus notices them despite the crowd and joins the circle, laughing and jumping and enjoying the game just as much as the children. What a breathtaking picture.
Just goes to show us that Jesus wasn't a solemn, 'holyier-than-thou' figurehead, giving long speeches and posing every so often for the perfect portrait. He was completely God in a completely human body; the Word become flesh. He came down here and set aside all His glory to live our life with us. To experience with us everything that is our existence as human beings. Certainly there were moments when He was solemn -- He had some very serious things to tell us. But I am convinced that He was also the most joyful person ever to dwell in human flesh. Seizing every moment and enjoying it to the fullest. Playing with the children. Maybe singing with the Disciples as they walked the dusty streets. Telling every story with all the animation of a great storyteller. Loving on all of His treasured mankind, not wasting any moment He had with us until the cross, when He would finally save us from ourselves.
So yes, it was still great to see. :) And my sister and I are contemplating trying to be in it next year... We've never had the time before! :P
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