On Friday and Saturday evening (27–28 March), Tītahi Bay Community Church presented The Thing About Easter—a collaborative production weaving together spoken word, choral and solo singing, and theatre to tell the Easter story.
Ken Edgecombe, one of the Titahi Bay elders, wrote the script with the wider community in mind: “For many years our church has done something special at Easter—an art gallery, or a musical event, Bible and poetry readings... and people in the community around us have come to expect we’ll be hosting something.”
Ken says they deliberately chose the week before Easter, as so many people are away at camps or on holiday during the weekend itself, with the intention of producing an event to host non-Christian friends and family. “Not everyone is keen to come along to a church service, and this sort of event aims to open the conversation.”
The Thing About Easter is crafted around a conversation between two friends at a café. “It opens with Dave, who is a Christian, and his friend Hannah, who is not. Within their conversation she asks, ‘What are you doing at Easter?’ opening the door to talk about the Easter story.”
The hour-long production flows out of this conversation, with the friends providing a running commentary on what Easter is about. This conversation is interspersed with scenes from Easter events such as the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus on trial, and the crucifixion, working through to Peter’s restoration on the shores of Lake Galilee, with Jesus commissioning him to “feed my sheep” — or, in the deliberate phrasing of the show’s conversation, “Look after my friends.”
The Thing About Easter included ten musical pieces, three poems, multimedia elements, and actors portraying different parts of the Easter story.
“At least 50 people were involved in bringing the production together,” says Ken, “with the majority coming from within the Tītahi Bay Community Church whānau,” including choir directors Felicia Edgecombe and Rosemary Russell, whose input shaped the performance.
Others from local churches also played key roles, with Averil Bennett of Trinity Baptist Church directing the production.
Ken, a retired teacher (and former editor of The Treasury magazine) with years of experience teaching religious studies at Queen Margaret College, says the years he spent in the classroom answering questions about religion and faith gave context for writing the script.
“I wanted to write something I would invite my former colleagues along to and not be embarrassed about. We wanted to put on something better than a Sunday School production—not quite Hollywood polish level, but self-respecting, good quality content and presentation.”
As part of the process, Ken submitted the script to a non-Christian friend for feedback, particularly on the conversation between the two friends in the cafe. “This needed to show two equals talking on equal ground—not where the Christian character sounds too pious or condescending, or the non-Christian character sounds argumentative.”
The goal of the production was to make a clear statement about the reality of Easter. Ken explains: “We wanted to speak about the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection into a New Zealand that’s tied up with chocolate rabbits.”
Another priority was involving a variety of people from the church. “I deliberately wrote short scenes that I knew would be manageable for people who are nervous and busy.”
They found most of their cast simply by asking around the church, and the other sympathetic churches nearby.
“My wife Felicia put together the choir and involved a number of younger people from the church, particularly those who were part of choirs within their schools. It was very encouraging to see them step up and take part, including one particularly poignant solo that was a real highlight of the show.”
A floodlit static display of several Easter scenes allowed for reflection before and after, with supper offered later to give people time to keep talking about what they had seen.
More than 150 people came through the doors over the two evenings. Ken says they’re looking forward to hearing how conversations begun on the night might develop — at least one person he has been told about was telling his friends in Lower Hutt the next day about “this amazing show” he had seen in Titahi Bay. The real hope is that the conversations might go beyond chocolate bunnies and move towards the story of Easter.
Thanks to Ken Edgecombe and Ossie Fountain for sharing this story with us here at CCCNZ. If you'd like a copy of the script, please get in touch with Sophia Sinclair: sophiasinclair@cccnz.nz
