Naomi recently was part of the Plus Team for the Mark Drama – this is a super important group of people who take on various rolls in the performances – could be everything from an extra disciple to a widow, from Pilate to a fig tree!
Please read and be encouraged by Naomi’s reflections here as a Plus Team member of the Orange Evangelical Mark Drama.
To tell you what I got out of the Mark Drama requires telling you a little about how I came to Jesus.
Most of my life I didn’t know Jesus, then 3 years ago I came to church. It started with a curiosity. I wanted to know more about this guy called Jesus. Frankly that was about all I knew about Christianity. I went head first into learning. I said yes to everything including reading so so many books.
Then on Good Friday 2019 as I sat listening to the death and resurrection, all that I’d read came to my mind and I was struck by the suffering Jesus went through and that he chose to do that willingly for me. All the knowledge went from my head to my heart and I believed. I knew with certainty what the bible said was true.
As I’ve been a cast member I’ve been struck by the realness of it all. What it must have been like to be an everyday Jewish person and for Jesus to come on to the scene like he did, I’ve been struck by the humanness of the disciples. Even as an extra disciple I found it moving to sit at the feet of Jesus and feel the authority and nature of Jesus come through. It helped me feel a stronger connection to Jesus than before.
I found it deeply challenging and moving to be a disciple yet later to call out “crucify!”. At points I forgot I was acting and began to really mean it. To follow that up as the weeping woman at the tomb….every single time I was that woman I had raw actual tears.
It has been an incredible experience. What the Mark Drama has done is bring the gospel to life for me in a way I don’t think it could have even being an audience member. It has given me a greater confidence in the gospel and reminded me that there are many religions but only one can truly give us salvation and a restored relationship with God. It made me cherish how precious our salvation really is. And really appreciate again the cost it took to win it for us too.
If you asked me would I recommend being in the cast, I would absolutely say yes.
A highlight for me was getting my anti-Christian family to come and that they enjoyed themselves. They see Christianity as pointless and of no worth to their lives. I hope and pray the performance has had an impact on them and that one day they might come to trust in Jesus. For me getting them to come wouldn’t have been possible had I not been in the cast and with such a clear and easy presentation of the gospel, it’s a wonderful opportunity to evangelize to them in a non-threatening way.
James Squire recently played the role of Jesus in Grace Anglican Church’s production of The Mark Drama. Here he reflects on the 6-week learning process as well as his experiences during the rehearsals and the performances themselves.
These reflections might be helpful for you if you are considering playing Jesus in the drama, or just if you are interested in what goes into making a Mark Drama happen.
1. Stay humble. Ask God to guard your heart from pride.
It’s tempting to feel special and extra important, especially in the rehearsals when everyone calls you Jesus, or when in Section 5 everyone is literally cheering for you as Jesus enters Jerusalem.
Remember, “even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” You’re a humble jar of clay! (2 Cor 4:7)
2. Start memorising early.
There’s just too much content to cram it all in the last couple of weeks. You won’t learn it properly that way. God’s word is meant to be meditated upon, not crammed!
Follow the Mark Drama structure of one Section per week, starting 6 or 7 weeks out from performance date, and you’ll be right 🙂
3. Have a practice buddy/sibling/wife
I found the best way to practice as this: learn the lines by myself with my script, and then have someone whom you live with to test you. Give them your clipboard, while you act out and recite the lines. They can stop you when you make a mistake.
It’s even better if that person is also acting in the Mark Drama, because (1) it’s bonus learning for them, and (2) if they are learning the structure faithfully, they will be able to help you think through how to deliver Jesus’ lines to that particular audience.
For example, you might be concentrating so hard on remembering the lines that you forget to put expression in your voice. But they might point out how Jesus would have had compassion on the woman bleeding for 12 years, and how that needs to come through in the way you speak. (You’re an actor, not just regurgitating lines!)
4. Everywhere you go, always take your script with you!
Not the weather, but your clipboard. I highly, highly recommend putting your script in a clipboard. Leave it in your bag, so that wherever you go, if you have some extra time by yourself or with others who can help test you, you can get in some extra memory practice.
A great opportunity I found was in the car! I would drive and recite, and the passenger would have the clipboard in front of them, checking.
5. Focus on the script, but learn the structure as well, particularly for Section 1
Once you’ve nailed the lines, try to memorise as much of the structure as you can. As you’ll notice, lots of the time, a subsection will start off with a question or objection from the disciples or the Pharisees to which Jesus then responds. This is great, because it means you don’t need to know which scene is next.
However, sometimes Jesus cues the next scene change, and for these you need to know what comes next as you finish a section. You kinda need to wait till the rehearsals to know which scenes you cue, but you can still prepare for it by learning the structure.
Try to nail Section 1 structure in particular. This section has less of a pattern between its subsections (in my opinion), but as it’s the first section, if you nail it in the performance, it will boost your confidence for the rest of the Drama.
6. Take A6 flashcards to rehearsals and write cues on them
When you begin rehearsals, bring these flashcards with you.
Write at which points you need to say a line, or walk off in a particular direction, to drive the Drama into the next scene. This will help you immensely.
See an example below:
7. It’s a lot to memorise, but it’s not that hard
When you sink the hours in, it’s not that bad. You can get a lot done in 6 weeks! I suggest replacing whatever you’re reading for your daily Bible reading with Mark’s gospel:
Read the Bible passage for a Section
Read the relevant chapter of the Mark Experiment book
Then go over the Jesus script to figure out which lines you need to learn, and practice saying them aloud.
Lots of the stories and lines may be familiar to you already. Enjoy this opportunity to get to know our Lord and his compassion, authority, power and love better!
8. Honey, hot water and milk are fantastic for a ripped voice
The Mark Drama is pretty hard on the voice. In rehearsals you (especially as Jesus) will be talking a LOT for many hours on end. Also, you will need to scream when Jesus is crucified (heads up!) which is obviously hard on the voice too.
I highly recommend mixing some honey in with boiling water and drinking it. You may like to add tea, or milk. This will wonderfully soothe your voice.
9. Use the Mark Drama to point people to Jesus!
You’re acting the Mark Drama – great! Let me encourage you to use this opportunity for evangelism. Invite your non-Christian family or friends along. (They will probably say yes, because you are acting in it!) And pray for them that they might come to know Jesus as Lord.
10. You’re just pretending, but Jesus did it for real.
Remember, stay humble. After the performance, people will likely be very impressed with you. But please remember to point them to Jesus. After the performance, ask them which parts stood out to them or struck them the most.
Perhaps the conversation might go…
Audience member: “Wow! You were amazing! That was so powerful!”
You: “Thanks! Which part of the Drama stood out to you the most?”
Audience member: “Hmm… probably the part where Jesus died on the cross.”
You: “Yeah. It’s powerful, isn’t it. I was just acting it out, but Jesus did it for real. What a great Saviour we have!”
Mark Drama Australia 