Cast brings life to Last Supper

For more than 20 years, members of the Seward United Methodist Church have performed a living dramatization of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting, The Last Supper.

The church began hosting the performance in the early 1990s.

Each of the three performances held last week was attended by anywhere from 80 people to more than 200.

The performance includes soliloquies by the 12 disciples, the commemoration of the Last Supper, communion and scripture readings.

Original cast member Jack Broderick who plays Judas said the dramatization has evolved over the years.

It was originally a table-reading and now everyone memorizes their lines and it has become more of a drama.

Director Wess Robotham said he thinks it has more of an impact that way.

Broderick said the make-up and costumes have also become more elaborate over the years.

“I think one of the biggest changes over the years especially for the disciples that have done it more than once is that when you first learn your part to say your soliloquy, it’s just words. But now you get to the point where every paragraph has a certain emotion,” he said. “At this point, a lot of us have really taken those words and have really put a lot of feelings into them.”

The cast begins rehearsals around Ash Wednesday, four weeks before the performances.

“A lot of us start growing our beards around that time,” Broderick said.

In the beginning, they used glue-on beards. Now they grow their beards and Broderick said those beards now serve as a reminder to the community that The Last Supper performance is coming.

While there is a lot of preparation involved, the cast members agree it’s for an important and powerful message.

“To me, it brings a lot of reality or life to that painting, The Last Supper. I mean, we’ve all grown up with that painting. But all it was was a painting. And there was Jesus in the middle. But now when you look at it, you know all of the disciples. You kind of feel like what they are thinking. There is a lot of story to that picture that we’re trying to bring out,” Broderick said.

Matt Hastings, who has played the role of Thomas for the past two years, said he wanted to get involved because of the meaning behind the performance.

“I had been to it the year prior (to last year) and I was really impressed, and in some respects surprised, by how powerful it was for me and so I think that was a motivating factor to get involved,” Hastings said.

Having the opportunity to get to know the other 12 men involved has also been enjoyable for Hastings.

“It’s a neat experience, just to be part of the process of making this moment in history real to people,” he said. “It’s something that we read about and something that we hear from the pews. But it’s a very different experience when you have an opportunity to actually have a glimpse, even if it’s a recreation. It’s still very powerful. Just to be part of that is special.”

Robotham said he thinks it’s very important to share the story of Jesus and what he’s done for people.

“This is a good segue at the end of the Lenten season into Easter and of course tonight being Maunday Thursday where we do commemorate the Last Supper. It’s awesome for this church to be able to participate in that and then also share that with the rest of the community,” Robotham said.

Greg Zabka who plays Matthew and has performed at almost all of the services said he really enjoys the camaraderie with the cast and crew as well as seeing the reaction on people’s faces.

He said it’s especially powerful when people come up during communion to observe.

“It’s a solemn moment when they approach to get close,” Zabka said.

Zabka said it’s really interesting how each disciple tells about his relationship with Jesus.

Hastings said one of the challenges is posing for approximately two hours, especially for the cast members that have more difficult poses.

Both Hastings and Broderick said it’s also important to be able to connect to their characters in order to communicate their relationship with Jesus to the audience. Hastings said the first year he focused a lot on remembering the lines. The second year, he could focus more on trying to become his character.

“How does he actually feel or think in this circumstance and I think that helps then the audience to make a connection to each one of the apostles,” Hastings said.

Hastings said he thinks it’s a terrific opportunity for people to personalize a very spiritual moment.

“We don’t have a lot of those opportunities,” he said.

Robotham said the challenge as a director is setting up a rehearsal schedule that works with everyone because the cast members come from different walks of life and different professions.

A free will offering that is taken at each of the three performances always goes to local causes. This year’s donation will go to the Seward Food Pantry as well as the Seward Ministerial Association.

Current cast members who have been involved in the production for more than 15 years include Jack Broderick, Rod Lyon, Greg Zabka, Jack Fuller and Rod Barth.

Technical Coordinator Jim Lee faces different challenges. He recruits volunteers including high school students to help run lights and the sound system.

What Lee enjoys throughout the production is meeting new people.

“It’s a relationship-building process,” Lee said.

Lee said he also thinks the performance is important for community outreach.

Lynette Broderick did the prologue this year. Lindsay Hastings was the narrator. Additional cast members and their characters included Jack Fuller as Jesus; Jay Ferris as Nathaniel; Rod Barth as Andrew; Todd LaVelle as James the Lesser; John Moody as Thaddaeus; Clay Shepherd as Simon the Zealot; Patrick Checketts as Philip; Larry Chapman as James; J.B. Ketner as John; and Rod Lyon as Peter.