To what (or to whom) is the title of this open-air theatrical production referring?

To the Good Friday statues? To the actors? To the audience?

Since 1975, DWAL GODDA drama troupe has been involved in combining theatre and other art forms with folklore and para-liturgy in a unique event held yearly on Palm Sunday (this year 13th April) which also includes the traditional Good Friday procession.

The first act of this year’s production (at 4.30pm) meanders from the parable of the prodigal son as contrasted with another son, a victim of the ‘fine dust’. The Nazarene comparing himself to such a lowly character as a shepherd was not that ‘practical’ and his road-map rather absurd.
Notwithstanding the shouts of OSANNA, he could not but meet what many consider a sad end (‘CRUCIFY HIM’). Somehow, it seems that the biblical ‘stories’ are never-ending. We meet glimpses of them in our everyday life.

The procession of the eight traditional Good Friday statues follows, but as this is ending (at around 8pm) the stage lights pan also the biblical figures on the church parvis near the stage, giving them a ‘theatrical’ breath of life bringing them to the fore-front amidst our every-day toils and troubles – and joys.
The picturesque village of Gharghur is transformed into modern-day Golgotha during this unique event on Palm Sunday 13th April. Theatre brings to the fore many deeply hidden dilemmas which are strangely but surely engulfed in the wooden cross.

Whether this is a blessing or a curse has to be decided by the audience: individually/collectively.
It can also be a pilgrimage which does not end at 9.30pm as the stage-lights are switched off – the end is not always in sight.

‘PUPI FUQ IZ-ZUNTIER’, as a play should be, is a ‘thing of joy’. But the production just does not offer the odd doll to play with. What happens on stage and around may be a challenge to discuss whether the cross can tear off all the strings that enslave us – especially when we see ourselves as mere puppets.

Parts of the script are in English so that English speaking audiences can feel ‘at home’. Other forms of ‘art-in-action’ during the evening will entice those who ‘are there’ not just to watch and follow but to join in.

Further details are available on:

DWAL GODDA’s Facebook page

PUPI FUQ IZ-ZUNTIER event page

dwalgodda@yahoo.co.uk

7909 2624 / 99 288 288