Easter 2020: 'Passion Play' will again be put on by Dover churches

Updated March 4, 2020: This year's play will be held at 7 p.m. April 5, 8,9, 10 and 11 at Harmony Grove Community Church in Dover. Last year, more than 1,000 people attended the performances.

Written for the York Daily Record by 2019 play participants:

In mid-December, when most people were wrapping presents and dreaming of a white Christmas, a group of members of several churches in Dover were doing some preliminary planning on presenting an Easter drama.

The Passion Play – which had not been performed since 2013 – was to be hosted by Harmony Grove Community Church located in the same town. Easter was still several months away but all involved knew there would be countless hours ahead if the planned production was to be a success.

Rev. Jim Crosley, senior pastor at Harmony Grove Church, was excited about the possibility of his church’s involvement even though it means literally transforming an auditorium into a theater that features the ancient setting of Jerusalem – complete with a temple, a garden scene and a tomb. The set was built months in advance and did not disrupt the normal activities of the church in any way.

“Seeing the stage go up in advance brings an excitement to our congregation,” Crosley said. “In some ways it enhances our ministry. We recently held an Easter egg hunt in our auditorium to expose it to families in our community. Honestly, once you see the set in person, it is hard to not want to come back and see the production”

Building the set required several weeks of working nights and Saturdays. It took about 25 men and women approximately 500 hours from start to finish. The construction was not without incident as would be expected with building projects. There were splinters, cuts, scrapes and bruises.

Simultaneous with the construction of the set, the final script was crafted and auditions were held for a variety of roles. A production of this size requires many positions to be filled and over 100 people representing 12 area churches signed up to participate. There are actors, singers, and behind-the-scenes stage and sound room personnel. It is a monumental task to orchestrate and that’s where director Larry Carpenter, a retired pastor, also from the Dover area, lends his expertise.

“Drama is really a passion of mine and it is another method of presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ to the community.” Carpenter said, when asked why he commits hours and hours to the project. “Our number one goal is to reach our local community with the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Practices began in earnest in early February and, besides being physically tiring, they were also emotionally draining – especially during the scene depicting the death of Jesus at the cross. Darlene Marks-Maro, who has participated in many passion plays over the years, cries at every practice and every performance.

“I get so emotionally wrapped up in the crucifixion scene that the tears just start to flow” Marks-Maro said. “The scene is a bit graphic and our actors are very animated to show the suffering and humiliation that Christ endured on our behalf.”

More:Easter 1919: A story of joy and praise amid adversity a century ago

More:Looking for an Easter egg hunt for the kids? Here's where you can go in York County

The first performance of the 2019 Easter season was actually a special matinee presentation on Palm Sunday for local nursing homes that prefer an earlier performance. After the matinee show, the first scheduled performance was conducted for a crowd of nearly 300 people.

Rev. Matthew Sandorfi, senior pastor of Cornerstone Bible Church in Dover has over 20 members of his church participating. Pastor Sandorfi and his family are new to the area and the production. He didn’t realize how much detail and hard work went into the project.

“I had no idea that such a production could be accomplished in this setting. From the stage to the vocalists, this drama is a solid reflection of what we read about in the four gospels.” Sandorfi said. “From Day 1, the director emphasized that this is a visual presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Sandorfi also has the responsibility of closing the drama with a short presentation, which recaps the events of the production as defined in scripture.

“To be given the responsibility to clearly communicate the gospel message to a crowd of people from all different backgrounds and belief systems is truly a task above myself.” Sandorfi said. “It is not my word which I will give; it’s God’s Word.”