Story by Trevor Stiff
Staff Photographer
Video by Ivy Hess
KCBY Staff Member
Fifteen hundred people stare in disbelief at what they are currently witnessing. Tears drip down the faces of men and women alike as an innocent teen gets nailed to the cross. Silence fills the church as Jonathon Zuniga takes his last breath.
The prophecy has been fulfilled once again. The Passion of the Christ has been relived.
St. Ann Catholic Parish has produced Passion plays from the beginning of its existence. But for the last eight years in particular, the plays have become notably impactful and emotional due to the changes in the way the church runs the passion play.
“The St. Ann’s passion play used to be played by a male adult group with a professional director and actors, then in 2004, everything changed,” head director Patrick Gothman said. “The parish decided to switch things up a little and asked the teen youth group at St. Ann’s to perform the play instead.”
Gothman was a senior in high school in 2004 and was very involved in the youth program. Known for his great speaking skills, Gothman was asked to play Jesus for the first ever teen passion play. He gladly accepted the role in the play and put on one of the greatest performances St. Ann Parish has ever witnessed.
“I was amazed how much more impactful the play was when teens preformed it,” Gothman said. “It was almost as if another element was added to the mix. I will never forget the amount of people that came up to me crying and embracing me after the play. The impact it had on the church was beautiful.”
In fact, those at St. Ann Parish thought the play was so impactful and incredibly well done, they decided to make the play an official teen production. No more adults, no more paid directors or actors, just teens and youth directors. It has been that way ever since.
Eight years after his moment of glory, Gothman became the head director for the 2012 passion play. With the talents he used eight years in the past, Patrick has handed his role of Jesus to Zuniga, a senior at Coppell High School.
Zuniga is well known at CHS for his musical talents, being the head drum major in the marching band for two years. However, many students might not know about his superb acting skills, which should not be underestimated.
“I have participated in the passion play for three years now and have been blessed to participate in various roles for the play,” Zuniga said. “Now that it is my senior year at CHS, I wanted to have one more opportunity to impact my church and community.”
After Zuniga auditioned and heard the news that he was given the role of Jesus, he was filled with joy. But along with this joy and excitement in playing the role of Jesus at St. Ann comes an immense amount of responsibility.
“Playing the role of Jesus is very fun but can also be extremely stressful,” Zuniga said. “Memorizing the lines is very difficult along with practicing the scene where I’m nailed to a giant wooden cross. “
But above all, Zuniga thought the absolute hardest part of playing Jesus is living up to the parish’s expectations. Not only is that hard enough, but Zuniga will be a visual representation of Jesus for the Parish, which provokes some mixed emotions with Zuniga.
“I sometimes find myself waking up in the middle of the night thinking about how I am going to be the ‘face of Jesus’ for the hundreds of kids watching the play this year,” Zuniga said. “Whenever they think of Jesus’s crucifixion, they will most likely think of me. Just thinking about that can be extremely nerve-wracking.”
Despite the amount of stress put on Zuniga and all the other teens, all of them think it’s worth it in the end. Flower Mound senior Garrett Hicks, who has participated in the passion play for four years, is a huge supporter in the concept of the passion play.
“I just love how the play turns this great Bible story that Christians around the world have grown up hearing into a real life scenario,” Hicks said. “The play is so visual and accurate that it sends chills down peoples bones whenever they see it.”
CHS junior Clayton Hemphill has participated in the passion play for a long time as well and plays the role of one of the head stage crewmen for the play. His favorite part of the passion play was different from many of the actors.
“The bonds you develop with the cast and community is so incredible,” Hemphill said. “I don’t think I would ever want to quit participating in the passion play.”
With all hours the teens have put into the play, they are very excited to have the opportunity to perform on Palm Sunday.
“I believe this is going to be one of the best passion plays St. Ann’s has ever experienced,” Gothman said. “Our audience is in for a real treat this year. Prepare to be blown away.”
Sure enough, the St. Ann’s Passion play turned out to be a big success, drawing in the largest amount of spectators in the parish’s history. Tears were shed and people were silenced.
“This has by far been my favorite passion play,” Zuniga said. “The cast was incredible and we had so much fun executing our play. I’m very proud to say that I was apart of something this special at St. Ann Parish. I will never forget it.”
For more information on St. Ann’s Catholic Parish or its youth program, visit its website at http://www.stannparish.org/.
