Barabbas
Imagine if you were a contemporary who witnessed the living Christ and encountered evidence of his miracles.
Imagine further that you are not just any man, but are actually the criminal who was spared from the cross when the mob was offered the choice of setting Jesus or one of his fellow prisoners free, that Christ quite literally died for your sins.
This short novel by Scandinavian Nobel Prize winner Par Lagerkvist fills in a little hole left open by the Bible; specifically, what happens to Barabbas after the crowd chooses to crucify Jesus and spare his life. The play begins with Barabbas being freed. He is in a state of bewilderment, and something within him leads him to follow Christ to the cross, where he witnesses the death.
Afterwards, he tries to pick up the pieces of his life and wanders through town. By coincidence, he encounters some of the 12 apostles at a small cafe without knowing who they are, though they know who he is. When he discovers their identities, he is somewhat drawn to them yet repulsed by their poorly-concealed anger.
In quick succession, he witnesses the stoning of a female friend, works as a laborer on a wealthy estate, and travels to Rome. There he sees Rome burn down around him, discovers that this was done on orders of the emperor to be blamed on the Jews. He is captured along with some Jews (some of whom he recognizes from Golgotha) and killed.
The theme of death is pervasive throughout the play, as it starts with the death of Christ and ends with the death of Barabbas. Death seems to follow Barabbas at every step. He somehow feels this, but does not try to run; he has nowhere and no one to run to. Nearly all the people he meets end up dying; often at the hand of others. Death is truly inescapable in the life of Barabbas, and he comes to realize near the end of the play that it is not how or when you die, but what you die for, something Christ tried to show him and everyone else.
About the Author
Par Lagerkvist was a Swedish author who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1951. Lagerkvist wrote poems, plays, novels, stories, and essays of considerable expressive power and influence from his early 20s to his late 70s. Among his central themes was the fundamental question of good and evil, which he examined through such figures as the man who was freed instead of Jesus, Barabbas, and the wandering Jew Ahasuerus. As a moralist, he used religious motifs and figures from the Christian tradition without following the doctrines of the church.
Info
The one man show based on Alan Blair's translation of Nobel Prize winner Par Lagerkvist's work-Barabbas will be staged at Alliance Francaise de Chennai on 6th/7th/8th/9th of November.
Show timings: 7 pm on all days and matinee at 3pm on 7th/8th/9th
DIRECTION & PERFORMANCE - V.BALAKRISHNAN
MUSIC DESIGN - VARUN AIYER
LIGHTING DESIGN - VANDANA RANGARAJAN