THE PASSION PLAY
In Grassina in Tuscany
pubblicato il 27/03/2015 22:22:47
Florence is one of the most beautiful city in Tuscany and, during the Easter period, offers to its tourists a lot of activities. One of this attractions is surely the Passion Play in Grassina, a little village near Bagno a Ripoli (FI). The 500 figures in custom that compose the historical parade of the manifestation give more life to one of the moments represented in the evening.
They make frame to a Christ who waves and suffers in the ninety minutes of distance of the Way Crucis. The historical parade merge with the 100 figures whi represented some scenes of Christ’s life, in proximity of the Calvary, thanks to a capable direction. In a natural stage between small streets and walls, the play is appreciate from a lot of Italian show personality, such as for example the big master Franco Zeffirelli, Giorgio Albertazzi, Carla Fracci or the the director Beppe Menegatti.The historical commemoration of Good Friday at Grassina dates back to the first decades of the seventeenth century. At the beginning this commemoration was exclusively a religious rite, but, as time passed, a spectacular element of great effect was also added to the mystical feeling.
Suspended during the war years, the commemoration was resumed in a further enriched version in 1950, and it continued until 1966, the year that Florence was hit by the disastrous flood. Some years later a group of volunteers from Grassina proposed a new script and also new music. Nowadays the representation is divided into two parts: the historical parade and the scenes of Christ’s life. The dialogues and the text is freely taken from Matteo's, Luca's and Giovanni's Gospels. Musics by Dvorak, Orff, Haendel, Grieg, Bach, Wagner, Greens, Stravinskij, Beethoven, Faure, Malher, Albinoni.