New Jerusalem Theater

New Jerusalem theater
The theater's external walls
General information
Location	Brejo da Madre de Deus, Pernambuco, Brazil
Coordinates	8.1822°S 36.1932°W / -8.1822; -36.1932
Construction started	1968 (1968)
Technical details
Size	100,000 square metres (1,100,000 sq ft)

New Jerusalem (Nova Jerusalém) is a city theater in Brejo da Madre de Deus in the district of Fazenda Nova, about 180 kilometres (110 mi) from Recife.

Founded in 1968, this theater is considered the largest open-air theater in the world and hosts an outdoor Passion of Christ performance every Easter.

History

Epaminondas Mendonça, a marketer in 1951, had the idea to recreate during the holy week Jesus's life, death and resurrection on the streets of Fazenda Nova, a small parish. He came up with this idea after reading about Passion plays in a magazine discussing the German city Oberammergau, which held a similar event Passion Play.

In 1956, Plínio Pacheco arrived in Brejo da Madre de Deus and married Diva Pacheco, daughter of Epaminondas and a local actress. In 1958, Plinio became director of the theater. In 1962 he had the idea to build the New Jerusalem Theater as a small replica of the Jerusalem city. The city theatre was completed in 1968. Plinio Pacheco was its Director until his death in 2002.

Passion of Christ

Every night at 6 pm, over a two hour span, the crowd follows the reenacted footsteps of Jesus and his disciples between nine permanent stages built solely for the event, in rural Pernambuco. The show tells the history of the death & resurrection of Jesus and features 60 renowned actors (many from Rede Globo) and more than 500 back actors (sometimes including visitor participation), with a daily average audience of 8000 people.

Another strength of the show is the technical infrastructure with digital sound, pyrotechnics, lights, and special effects; inside in a Jerusalem city atmosphere of 100,000 square metres (1,100,000 sq ft) surrounded by walls and towers which delights national and international visitors.

Stages and Scenes

Roman Forum - stage 6

• 1 - Sermon (Prologue, Temptation in the desert and sermon on the mount scenes
• 2 - Jerusalem Temple (Discurssions in the temple and The supreme council)
• 3 - The Upper Room (The last supper/dinner)
• 4 - The Garden (Agony in the garden, Judas betrayal and Arrest of Jesus)
• 5 - Herod Palace (Herod bacchanal/orgy and Jesus against Herod)
• 6 - Roman Forum (Pilate against Jesus, Scourging and Condemnation of Jesus)
• 7 - Via Sacra (Meeting with Mary, Women of lamentations and The Cirino)
• 8 - Calvary (Despair of Judas, Crucifixion and death on the cross, the descent of the cross and Mater painful)
• 9 - Sepulcher (The burial, Resurrection, Three Marias (Mary's), Angel of resurrection and Ascension of Jesus)

Numbers

Statue of Plínio Pacheco, directing one scene

• Record audience in 2008: 72000 people, from 23 Brazilian states and 11 Countries;
• 60 actors;
• over 500 back actors;
• over 400 professionals of sound, lights, special effects, security, administration, etc.;
• Theater city area of 100,000 square metres (1,100,000 sq ft), surrounded by 3,500 metres (11,500 ft) of wall and 70 towers;
• 9 stages, with a total number of 26 scenes;
• Capacity of 8000 people times nine days;
• 860 lights reflectors spending 1.29 Mwatts;
• 72 digital sound tables with a total of 150000 watts of power;
• 800 costumes in the wardrobe.

See also

• Photoslide via Flickr