Adeje annual Easter enactment of “the greatest story every told”: the Passion of Jesus Christ

[Janet]

Adeje Council's Culture department will once again present "the greatest story ever told" – the Passion of Jesus Christ – tomorrow, Good Friday, 18 April. The annual Easter passion play reenacting the last days and death of Jesus of Nazareth, the Pasión, will once again be staged in Calle Grande and will be broadcast live throughout Spain on TVE in the Canaries and on La2 nationally.

La Pasión will start at 12 noon, and for the second year running the scene of the crucifixion will be in the Plaza España. Culture Department councillor Nayra Medina Bethencourt noted that "with the change of location and stages which we did for the first time last year we achieved the desired affect, which was to create a panoramic setting for the final setting which we get with the Plaza, the church, the Convento and the Barranco del Infierno as a backdrop". There is also more room for the public to watch the final scene of La Pasión with the change to the Plaza.

The councillor said that La Pasión is a major event for Adeje, and that "more than 300 people will be taking part as amateur actors in the staging of the story, the vast majority of them people from different parts of the borough who sign up year after year to take part in what is an important element of our local culture". She said that " the people of the borough feel they own the event, and return to it year after year. This ... important international event [is] something very different, very unique. As well as the participation of local residents we must also recognise those other groups and individuals from other parts of the island who will be here, from the north, from the island capital, or the many who come from other towns and villages to play their part".

She is right, of course, but it is more even than all that. It is also a stunning visual spectacle of high emotion that is gaining worldwide renown. And in 2014, the production will see a number of improvements to some of the stages, costumes, the Jerusalem marketplace which will have 20 stalls this year, all of which will add to creating the atmosphere of the era. Another new addition will be the participation of students from the Municipal School of Music and Dance as Herod's dancers. The Herod and Pontius Pilate stage has been redesigned and restructured, and that of Pontius Pilate and Claudia has also undergone some changes. Their script has also been changed and is more intense, with the inclusion of a song during this part of the representation.

The whole of the Calle Grande, from the Plaza de la Cruz del Llano to the Plaza España, will be a stage dressed to resemble Biblical times, with plants, cloths, sculptures and altars, etc. Music also plays an important part in the event, and all of the songs and compositions are originals, written by the EMMA, incorporating some traditional Canarian musical themes and instruments – the timple, cháracas, the drum, airs and dances. Security during the event will be provided by a group of Adeje local police, members of the civil protection unit and civil protection volunteers and the voluntary Adeje fire brigade.

If you haven't seen it, don't miss it. If you have, feel the pasión all over again. As I've said in previous years, get there early because this gets packed out, and get there by public transport or taxi because this gets packed out ... JA