‘The Passion has nothing to do with the week of suffering’, I read in a letter sent to me this week de Volkskrant. The letter writer noted this The Passion ‘fits in with a tradition of mega-productions whose success is mainly based on the pursuit of effect, which are at odds with the intention of commemorating the Stations of the Cross: a personal reflection on suffering that every person is confronted with’.
There is probably something in that, but I cannot emphasize enough that the Dutch TV landscape would be infinitely poorer without The Passion. Consider it a gift for TV critics, who so often suffer from the whims of television makers. God, can we, for heaven’s sake, have some truly carefree fun once a year?
Just take the cast alone, which every year forms a miraculous collection of Musical Award winners, rappers, theater veterans, GTSTactors and Jack van Gelderachtigen. Such a cast plays exactly the same story every year (something about the suffering and death of Jesus, I believe), which is told by a narrator who is usually a joke man (Jörgen Raymann type), and can always make a pointed reference. inventing betrayal and suffering in the present.
In between there is, of course, a lot of singing. At first it was usually the complete oeuvre of Marco Borsato, but nowadays people mainly rely on Suzan and Freek. The theme of The Passion is usually something hopeful, something along the lines of ‘I believe in you’, ‘together we can go further’, ‘we have to take shelter among each other’, or ‘only together we can get Jesus Christ under control’.
At the time of writing this, the latest edition has yet to be broadcast, but I’m sure it won’t disappoint. The inside knowledge of thirteen Passioneditions offers enough security to know that some things never disappoint. Just take this year’s insanely talented cast:
William Spaaij (Jesus): may not have the finesse of a Danny de Munk Jesus or a Syb van der Ploeg Jesus, but is in any case the best musical Jesus since Freek Bartels.
Kluun (narrator): born storyteller.
Angela Schijf (Maria): get ready to follow in the footsteps of Maria interpreters such as Do, Anita Meyer and Glennis Grace. But Schijf brings more than enough Cops Maastricht-grinta along to make the role her own.
Rapper Keizer (Judas): ‘I don’t know what it is, but they don’t want me anything. Gotta take what I can, all eyes on me. They call me the emperor, above the admiral, above the king, a boss here in my story.’
Alberto Stegeman (chief of arrest team): Five stars.
The Passion may have little to do with the week of suffering, but it does have a lot to do with Alex Mazereeuw’s television pleasure, and that is also worth a lot. One person’s ordeal is another’s annual television highlight.
