Om die rol van Jesus te vertolk – die ervaring van die akteurs

Abstract

Since the start of the Lady Grey Passion Play in 2002 seven actors have portrayed the role of Jesus. This article investigates the meaning that these seven actors ascribe to their experience of acting this role. The research was guided by hermeneutic phenomenology. Open-ended interviews were conducted with all the actors who portrayed the role in which they were asked to describe, in as much detail as possible, their experience and memories of playing the role. The data collected through the interviews was organised and analysed using coding and categorisation through the use of ATLAS.ti 7. Themes were identified to provide an understanding of the meaning the actors ascribed to their experiences. The three themes that emerged from the analysis were categorised into three phases of experiences: firstly, experiences before and while preparing for the performance of the Passion Play; secondly, experiences that occurred during the three days of the performance and thirdly, how the experiences influenced and are still affecting the actors’ lives.