A scene from "From Cenacle to Calvary."
St. Patrick Parish photo
HEPPNER — “A Wee Bit o’ Ireland” begins here this year on Thursday, March 13, with “From Cenacle to Calvary,” the fifth play written by local Catholic priest, Father Gerry Condon.
Motivation to write “From Cenacle to Calvary” came, Father Condon explains, from a suggestion by Methodist Rev. Keith Brudevold last year. Rev. Brudevold, who participated in last year’s performance, “Emigration to Happiness,” noted that this year’s St. Patrick’s Day falls on the Monday of Holy Week. So, a dramatization of Christ’s final days on earth seemed appropriate.
Father Condon agreed with his colleague, who will take the stage again this year, and agreed to work on a production if Joe Lindsay would agree to write music and lyrics for the play. Lindsay, local singer, composer, and teacher, has been on stage in all of Father Condon’s plays and has written original works for the last two productions. He agreed to collaborate with his parish priest once again.
The audience will see the result, written in great part in Ireland last summer while Father Condon visited his homeland during an especially rainy period that kept him indoors. Lindsay wrote eight original songs. Though “Cenacle” is not a musical by definition, the lyrics capture the intense emotions of two particular characters.
The word “cenacle” derives from “cena,” Latin for “supper,” and refers to the room in which the Last Supper was held. Calvary is the site of Jesus’s crucifixion. The play of four scenes opens in the cenacle and takes the action to the second trial of Jesus before Pilate, to the road to Calvary, and, ultimately, to the crucifixion.
It’s the most complex play yet written by Father Condon. A dramatic denouement comes in the form of the “Halleluia Chorus” performed by a choir of 20 voices directed by Rick Drake.
“From Cenacle to Calvary” will begin at St. Patrick Church parish hall at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 13. An encore presentation is set for 7:30 p.m. on Monday, March 17. The performances are free and open to the public. Donations given at the door will go to an area charity chosen by actors and production crew.
