PRODUCTION NOTES

By

DEBORAH CRAIG-CLAAR

CONCEPT

Three Days was created to bring the chronological hours of our Lord’s death and

resurrection into a sharp and contemporary focus. In addition to challenging the audience

to consider anew the sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection of Jesus Christ, the

production presents an introspective examination of Saturday, a time of certain despair

and hopelessness for Jesus’ followers on earth. The musical reminds us that much of the

world is still “living on Saturday,” without the promise of everlasting life that Sunday’s

resurrection assures all believers. The challenge of Three Days is to renew our

commitment to bring the life-giving message of Easter to those in such desperate need.

In pursuit of this end, you will notice that there is a purposeful focus on personal

application of all the concepts presented in Three Days. Most of the songs have been

written in a first-person perspective, including such large-scale events as the Via

Dolorosa (“The Road of Sorrows”) and the Crucifixion (“Beneath The cross of Jesus”).

The final two songs that present a direct testimony of redemption (“I Stand Redeemed”)

and a personal commissioning challenge (“Cross of Christ”) are also written from an “I”

point-of-view. As is true with all our projects, it is Camp Kirkland’s and my deepest

prayer that this musical may help touch and change individual lives. All of the production

suggestions that follow are offered in the hopes of achieving that end.

SET and LIGHTING The choir is the visual and musical center of Three Days, so the musical doesn’t call for a

specific set or other scenic elements. It is always helpful, however, to “frame” your

platform area. This can be accomplished with banners that serve as vertical “borders” on

either side of your choir area. Most existing Easter-themed banners will serve the purpose

nicely. If you have an experienced banner seamstress in your midst, you might adapt the

clip art provided in this book into a banner design. If you’d like to use multiple banners

for the musical, you might also create an individual design for each of the three days:

Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The banners can be processed in and displayed for each

appropriate segment of the musical. A good general resource on designing and

constructing banners is Quick and Easy Banner Designs by Carol Jean Harms. This

helpful manual (and all other resources mentioned in these notes) can be ordered from

your local Christian bookstore or music supplier.

A second method of “framing” your choir is to erect a brightly-lit backdrop behind your

group. Not only will this drop help hide competing visual distractions, it can also

“double” as a screen if you plan to use projections and do not have a permanent screen in

your sanctuary. Backdrops are most frequently made of canvas (unbleached theatrical

muslin is best) or shark tooth’s scrim. The material can be stretched over a large, open,

rectangular frame or hung from a self-supporting pipe. Canvas can be painted and will

also take colored light well. The use of scrim will allow you to make figures appear and

disappear with light.

If you elect to stage the various scenes from the life of Christ that are included in Three

Days, you will need to designate specific areas to accommodate the following scenes: the

baptism of Jesus, Peter’s declaration of Christ’s divinity, the Triumphal Entry, Pilate’s

trial, the walk on the Via Dolorosa, the Crucifixion, the garden tomb and a heaven scene

for the ascended, glorified Christ. You are encouraged to use your entire auditorium to

accomplish these scenes, including the congregation space, any balconies, and all of the

aisles. A creative configuration of a “unit set” (an arrangement of levels, perhaps with

natural stone or terrain relief) will allow you to change locales with a minimum of actor-

carried set pieces rather than full set changes. (For instance, Pilate’s balcony can be

suggested with two Roman soldiers carrying two banners, etc.)

The use of theatrical lighting can greatly enhance your production of Three Days.

Although you can certainly do an effective performance with your general sanctuary

lighting, the use of theatrical lighting will help alter moods for certain numbers and help

focus the audience’s attention. However, recognizing that many of you will be

performing Three Days during a morning service (with the strong possibility of sunlight

streaming through windows), the use of theatrical lighting may not be necessary at all. If

you do elect to use lighting, however, you will need to darken your sanctuary as much as

possible.

In addition to a wide variety of colors, you may also elect to project patterns and pictures

of light with gobos. A gobo is a small, metal cutout template that is placed in the gate of

an ellipsoidal reflector spotlight to project an image or pattern of light. There are a wide

variety of commercially-made gobos that are reasonably priced and easily ordered

through theatre supply houses. The gobos you might consider for Three Days are a

descending dove, a cross, storm clouds, and a rising sun.

A good resource to aid you in the design of workable Biblical sets, the construction and

use of backdrops and scrim, and the use of lights is The Complete Guide to Church Play

Production by John Lewis, Laura Andrews and Flip Robler.

DRESS The choir may elect to wear robes or dressy, everyday attire. In either case, they should

gravitate toward darker colors so as not to unintentionally reflect light. Women should

also be modest in their jewelry, and everyone should be asked to keep their faces as

“open” as possible (That means wearing hair off the face and as few glasses as members

feel comfortable not wearing.)

Because the narrator consistently addresses the audience, he/she should perhaps reflect

the attire of the audience more closely than the dress of the choir. If your choir will be

wearing robes or matching formal attire, then the narrator should be in distinctive,

everyday wear.

If you elect to stage scenes from the life of Christ, you will need to carefully coordinate

the Judean costumes. A good resource for information on Biblical costumes, from

soldiers to angels to Pilate, is Costuming the Christmas and Easter Play by Sheila

Staeheli.

PRODUCTION APPROACHES

There are two basic approaches you can take to your presentation of Three Days:

presentational (stand-up choral) and representational (dramatic scenes). Both approaches

can be visually impactful and emotionally moving. Your challenge will be to create a

consistency of production—in other words, your performance will be stronger if you will

choose one style and render it consistently.

There are several different approaches you can take with the narration and the story-

telling aspect of the musical: straight narration, narration & readers’ theatre, and narration

& extended drama.

Straight Narration A single narrator can present the narration as written. The narrator can be either male or

female. You can also split the narration between two or more speakers. In all cases, it will

be most effective if the narration is memorized and the narrator(s) are allowed to move

freely about the performance and audience area.

Narration & Readers Theatre

You can also elect to mix the narration with dramatic voices provided by actors in a

reader’s theatre format. You will notice that a number of the narrations use direct

quotations of dialogue from Scripture. All you need to do is “cast” these parts with

different actors who will step forward at the appropriate time and read the dialogue in a

character voice. (In true readers’ theatre style, these actors do not need to wear costumes,

and they can read their dialogue directly from their choral books.) If you choose, you can

also easily add other Scriptural dialogue sequences from the dramatic events of these

final three days as they are depicted in the musical.

Narration & Extended Drama Three Days can also be extended to include more developed dramatic scenes. A writer in

your arts ministry can freely adapt the script to include any or all of the sequences

chronicled from Friday through Sunday. If you’d like to create a full, dramatic

presentation, you might consider fashioning Pilate as the central character, as he had one

of the strongest dramatic hands to steering the course of events the final three days.

(Pilate receives his fullest dramatic portrayal in the gospel of John.)

SONG-BY-SONG STAGING SUGGESTIONS

“Behold the Man” The opening song compresses the first three years of Jesus’ adult ministry into a single

number. There are several ways you can visually illustrate these events. You can depict

the baptism and then Jesus with the disciples in a tableau format with costumed actors.

You can also use slides or video to portray these events. The final chorus establishes

Jesus poised to enter Jerusalem for the Triumphal Entry. If using live actors, you might

use this final chorus to process Jesus to the back of the auditorium, where he will prepare

to make the full procession. You can also use this chorus to simply show Jesus interacting

with and being hailed by his followers. If you plan to use banners, you can choose

banners with symbols or scenes from Jesus’s early ministry.

If you would like to add a children’s number to Three Days, it should be inserted here.

You can easily have the children gather around Jesus or the children can simply present

the song on their own. (If you need time to get Jesus prepared for the Triumphal Entry,

this will afford you the needed break.) The song should be a simple praise song or a song

about God the Father. After the song, the children can easily join the Triumphal Entry.

“Higher” This energetic number can be used to enact the Triumphal Entry, complete with palm

branches, colorful fabric, and flowers. Non-choir participants can provide the more

realistic shouting. This would also be an ideal place to use a movement team.

“The Trial (Underscore #1)” The trial sequence can receive a full dramatic presentation, or can be done with narration

and/or character voices, as described above. If you do elect to suggest a more dramatic

rendering, it may prove helpful to have the same crowd of non-choir participants you

used in the Triumphal Entry become members of the crowd for the trial. As the choir

performs the rhythmic "Crucify Him!" chant, have the crowd react in a realistic manner.

The “realistic” shouting mixed with the scored chanting should provide a very dramatic

effect. If you are actually portraying Jesus on stage, you my wish to show Him being

mocked, the crown of thorns being placed on His brow, and Him being led down the aisle

by soldiers, as if being readied to carry His cross. If you plan to have Jesus carry His

cross through the aisle and need additional time to ready Him, you can do the entire trial

sequence with Pilate alone on stage, addressing the audience. A particularly chilling

effect might be achieved by “planting” non-choir participants out in the congregation,

having them stand and join in the chanting. A good resource to aid in the construction of

the various properties that will help portray these events is Stage Effects and Props for

Easter and Christmas by Lee Shackleford.

“The Road of Sorrows” This song depicts Jesus carrying His cross to Calvary. It can be fully enacted with

soldiers and a crowd, or can be suggested with a single actor to portray Jesus. You can

also use media to suggest the activity described in the song. If you are not actually using

an actor to portray Jesus, you might also consider bringing a real, wooden cross slowly

down the aisle during this song and placing it center stage.

“Golgotha (Underscore #2)” This short, dramatic, instrumental sequence has been created to capture the agony of

Jesus’ death. The choir is used as part of the instrumental color of the piece. You are

strongly encouraged to visually depict (in some way) the death of Jesus on The cross.

This can be done dramatically with actors, with media (especially showing classic works

of art illustrating the Crucifixion), or as simply as draping a red cloth on a stationary

wooden cross. If you choose, you may also add storm sound effects or Jesus’ last words

from the cross. An excellent resource for many of the sound effects used to tell the Easter

story can be found on the Sound Effects for Seasonal Productions CD from Lillenas

Publishing.

“Beneath the cross of Jesus” This personal statement concerning Christ’s sacrifice should be sung simply and directly

to the audience. The soloist might stand near the actual cross or face the cross from the

other side of the platform area. If you are using media, you can project an image of the

empty cross. A solo interpretive dance would also be appropriate at this time.

The narration immediately following “Beneath The cross of Jesus” should allow you time

to remove the body of Jesus from The cross. The cross can either be draped in black or

removed altogether.

“What If Sunday Had Not Come?” This song asks the audience to reflect on what their world would be like if Christ had

never risen from the grave. A creative use of media might offer an individual

interpretative response to that proposition. Because the song is fairly short, you might

also simply allow the audience to listen to the lyrics and privately reflect. If you plan to

use Biblical characters to discover an empty tomb in the following sequence, you might

also position these characters at various points around your auditorium; they would be

sitting with their heads down, in contemplation.

“Easter Song” At the beginning of “Easter Song,” with the first hushed “Alleluia,” the women Biblical

characters can begin to stir. They can cautiously approach the tomb, emerging joyfully

with the cloths at music measures 18–24. If you wish to have the angel appear to the

women, he should also appear during this section of the song. If you wish Christ to

emerge from the tomb Himself, He can do so during the early segment, or you can delay

His emergence until measure 82. This song should convey an atmosphere of joyful

exuberance and celebration. This would be an excellent opportunity to use a movement

team or to bring your children’s group back. They can fill the aisles with white lilies.

“I Stand Redeemed” “I Stand Redeemed” provides the personal testimony and response to the cumulative

events of the three days of Christ’s death and resurrection. It makes a strong,

unambiguous statement concerning redemption. Depending upon your specific mission

for your presentation of Three Days, your pastor can deliver a message and/or invitation,

either preceding “I Stand Redeemed” or after the conclusion of the song.

“Cross of Christ Finale includes Cross of Christ, Higher and Behold the Man” The final song of Three Days is meant to serve as a commissioning summons,

challenging the audience to take the message of redemption to the world. For vocal

variety, you might have a small ensemble or mixed quartet sing the verses on “Cross of

Christ” and have the choir join in on the choruses. This song would also provide a good

opportunity to use media to show the many mission activities in which your church

participates. Once the Finale moves to “Higher” at measure 78, you should bring back all

of your participants from the musical: children, movement team, and all costumed

characters. They should fill the aisles, encouraging the audience to clap. At measure 134,

with the majestic return of “Behold the Man,” the glorified Christ should be revealed. He

can either appear above the platform area (perhaps in the baptistery or on some other

elevated area), or He can slowly walk down the center aisle of the auditorium. Once He

reaches the center platform, He can turn to face the audience with His arms outstretched.

Additional visual elements can include herald trumpets, banners declaring the Lordship

of Christ, and media depicting the ascension and/or Second Coming of Christ.