Volume 10, No.6             Buffalo County Historical Society     June 1987

THE PASSION PLAY

by Dorothy S. Wilson

    

        The hills in north Kearney provided the setting for the first outdoor Passion Play in America. It was written and produced by the Rev. David A. Johnson, then pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Kearney. The first play was presented on July 16, 17, 18 and 20, 1932. The field of action covered an area of 40 acres. The natural setting from 33rd to 39th Streets, with its hills, valleys and ravines, was ideal for this reproduction. The scene of action was around Reservoir Hill and the present Memorial Field. The actors faced the west, and the audience sat on the grounds to the west. 

        This drama depicted the last week of Christ's life on earth. It had a cast of more than a thousand people. The Methodist, Christian and Catholic churches of Kearney cooperated with the Presbyterian Church. The cast also included some from other towns. The first summer it was shown to an estimated 15,000 people, and because of its success the Kearney Chamber of Commerce requested that it be repeated in 1933. Crowds that year exceeded those of the previous year, and it was estimated that 20,000 saw the play. It was produced again in 1935 to equally large audiences.

        The Temple, the Upper Room, the assembly of the Sanhedrin, Pilate's Judgment Hall and the Tomb were all built in various parts of the great arena, every scene being in perfect view of the audience. Fifteen loudspeakers were installed. A profusion of strong flood lights turned darkness into day. Sound effects for the thunder and earthquakes were provided by charges of dynamite set off by the Kearney Fire Department on the side of Reservoir Hill. Realistic effects included careful concealment of all modern appliances. The best loud speaker that could be obtained was installed so that every spoken word could be clearly heard in every part of the arena, but not in view of the audience.
 

 
        The sets for the play were constructed under the supervision of Paul Lindberg of Lincoln. He was a student of biblical architecture and spent a year in study and research preparing for this drama. The Temple formed the central scene for the play and was an accurate reproduction as viewed from the front. The Judgment Hall and Sanhedrin were also designed by Mr. Lindberg. Four men worked several months on the sets.

          The entire cast of a thousand people appeared in costumes of more than twenty different colors. The costumes were made to order under the direction of Mrs. David A. Johnson, who had had many years of experience in this field. Two thousand yards of material were purchased and dozens of women throughout the community were busy at their sewing machines and with their needles making the necessary outfits. Willamette Martin remembers sewing on many of the costumes.

          Wigs and beards also played an important part of the costuming. These were made under the direction of Mr. Johnson. He had had a lot of experience in this line in connection with more than a hundred Bible dramas he had written and produced in the past. Natural hair was used, most of it contributed by Kearney women who had saved it when they adopted the new short hair style a few years before. All of the Jewish rulers, as well as many others in the cast, wore long flowing beards.

 
        One of the most difficult phases of the costuming was for the large company of Roman soldiers who were seen with their torches proceeding to the Garden of Gethsemane, led by Judas. Metal cloth was made into coats of mail, and brilliant shining helmets were made. Howard Nims organized this group of soldiers from the men of St. James Catholic Church.

 
          Mr. Johnson was asked about the omission of music from the play. His answer was that the Passion Play was an attempt to reproduce on a smaller scale what actually happened during the last week of the life of Christ, and to do this without the use of artificial means for the atmosphere. He thought the introduction of choruses singing modern music would be a glaring inconsistency. The proper atmosphere would be produced without difficulty through the thousand voices, at one time shouting their hosannas in a bedlam of religious ecstasy, and at another time shouting 'Crucify! Crucify!' until the hills echoed for miles around.

 
The Triumphal Entry

      

           However, there was music at one point in the program. It took place in the scene of the Upper Room, where, according to the scriptural record, the Last Supper closed with a hymn. A portion of a Psalm was set to oriental-type music for this song. In another part of the drama LoDesca Miller remembers playing the flute on one hill, and Lois Ferrell, another flutist, played the echo from another hill.

           All members of the cast were residents of Kearney and vicinity except the part of Christ. For the 1932 play the Christus was played by Philip Mergler, son of the Presbyterian minister at Gibbon, who was then a seminary student. In the 1933 and 1935 productions, the Christus was played by Ralph Hamilton of Minden, a Hastings College student preparing for the ministry. He later served as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Kearney. Mr. Johnson was the voice of the Christus in all the plays. It was his practice also to select two people to play the leading characters in the drama.

        Carroll Morrow, Stuart Napper, Gus Stohl and Oscar Drake played the parts of the Roman rulers, and Dr. W E. Rose played the part of Pilate. The first play in 1932 had women taking some of the men's parts. The disciples were Mrs. Paul Kannow as Simon, Walter Bennett as Andrew, John Work as James, Robert Huston as Judas, C. B. Manuel as Peter, Edna Haist as John, R. E. Collins as Thomas, Pauline Black as James, Mrs. J. A. Boyd as Phillip, Mrs. Frank Crone as Matthew, Miss Jennie Conrad as Nathaniel and H. L. Crawford as Thaddeus.

Left to right: Walter Bennett as Andrew, R. M. Gilmore as Simon, John Work as James, Robert Huston as Judas, W. E. Lett as Peter, Gene Johnson as John, Ralph Hamilton as Christ, Ray Collins as Thomas, Pat Gallagher as James, Arne Mattson as Phillip, Hugh McClure as Matthew, C. B. Manuel as Nathaniel, Harry L. Crawford as Thaddeus.                                                                                                          --Photo by Mattson

Click on picture for larger picture

The Rev. Wayne Greene  as Calaphas

C. B. Manuel as Peter

        Dressing at their homes the one thousand members of the cast walked to the scene of the play attired in their colorful costumes. The characters gathered in small groups on the hillside chatting together or meeting on the steps of the Temple. A prologue opened the play at eight o'clock.

        News of Christ's coming reached the city, his triumphal entry followed, and once more the story that is familiar to all Christians was told. The throng came joyfully to the city, met by other multitudes, as the Christus, riding upon an ass, was escorted by hundreds of little children and adult followers of the Gospel.

        Once more the rulers of the Temple plotted for his downfall. How they achieved their ends, by skillful handling of the mob, by bribery of Judas, once more became a living story as the drama progressed. Again the old story moved toward the climax: Christ driving the money-changers from the gates of the Temple; Christ healing the sick and the lame; the Last Supper with Judas slipping silently away to barter the fate of his Master for silver. The betrayal followed, with Judas leading the Roman soldiers to Christ, then the scene of judgment at the Sanhedrin with the rulers condemning Jesus and the mob howling for his death.

        The scene moved to the Judgment Hall and the appeal to Pilate, the Roman Governor, and his refusal because he could find no fault in Jesus. Once more the scene grew tense as Pilate weakened and surrendered Christ to the mob and to the rulers. Then came the scene of Christ bearing the cross up the steep hillside in the company of two thieves who were to die on the cross.

       The drama continued at the hillside tomb in which Christ had been laid, the soldier guards and the door sealed by a large stone; then the fire and earthquake that rocked the earth and rolled the stone from the door of the tomb. In the final scenes Christ appeared again in the Upper Room where the disciples had gathered, and then disappeared again as instantly as he had come.
 

        A play of this magnitude has never been surpassed in Kearney. Attendance was tabulated at each night's performance. On the last night of the play in 1933 the crowd numbered 4,411 people, coming from sixty-four Nebraska counties and from twelve states outside Nebraska. Admission to the play was 50¢ for adults and 25¢ for children. Passes were available to those who did not have the money to pay. These were the years of the Dust Bowl and a national economic depression.
 

        In 1934, the Rev. David Johnson launched a new production, an original outdoor pageant based on "The Exodus," with a cast of about 1,500, which played on three nights in June. The Kearney Daily Hub of Monday, June 25, 1934, reported: "Folk from 16 states and from 64 counties of Nebraska attended 'The Exodus', presented for the third and last time here last evening. . . .there were 4,187 persons in attendance" at that Sunday evening performance.
 

        In 1935, the Passion Play was again given and the crowds were large. After the performance in Kearney that year, the play was taken to McCook, Nebraska, and to Fort Collins, Colorado. Some of the cast stayed at the Drake cabin at Red Feather Lakes near Fort Collins, to save expenses.
 

        The Rev. David Johnson and his wife left Kearney in April, 1936. An article in the archives of the Kearney First Presbyterian Church, written during the period of World War II, reveals that Mr. Johnson, who was then pastor of the Austin Avenue Presbyterian Church of Brownwood, Texas, continued to direct religious dramas, and at the request of authorities of nearby Camp Bowie, he produced at Camp Bowie his Passion Play, with a cast of 500 soldiers and their wives. "It was a magnificent production, given out-of-doors, before an audience of eleven thousand people," said the writer.

        Many Kearney citizens remember the Johnsons and the Passion Play and Exodus dramas of the 1930's. The large audiences attending all performances indicate that Mr. Johnson's religious productions were indeed highlights in that bleak time of "the depression" and the Dust Bowl days.
 
 

SOURCES

            Kearney Daily Hub and Historical records of First Presbyterian Church of Kearney.
 

Proofread 3-18-2004

Revised 2/`12/2003

 

 

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