Living Last Supper 2009 Submitted by: Jim Ford - 04/13/09 2:26 pm

Living Last Supper 2009 Every 2 years in the Lenten / Easter season, my church, First Presbyterian of Conway puts on a dramatic play called the Living Last Supper. It is presented in our completely darkened sanctuary on Maundy Thursday evening, the evening of the Last Supper. The night Jesus was taken away. This year, I was asked to play Peter, the rock. The story is a living enactment of the famous painting by Leonardo Da Vinci, The Last Supper. In 1494, when Leonardo was forty-two, he was commissioned by the Duke of Milan to decorate the dining room of the Convent Church which was the favorite shrine of the Duke’s young bride. As an appropriate theme for this dining room, the painter chose The Last Supper. His painting was not intended to be a faithful reproduction of the original scene as it had taken place in first century Palestine, but as it might have taken place in fifteenth century Italy. He chose what he considered the most dramatic moment in the Last Supper. In this living dramatization, the twelve apostles speak their minds to themselves, to each other, and to the Lord in light of the words which they have just heard Jesus speak, “One of you will betray me.” Here you see various shots of other church/cast members going through the hair, makeup, and wardrobe process. Jim Lane is a very esteemed lawyer, Doug Corbitt a well respected professor, and Phillip Shell, a well known banker in town. Each of us attended rehearsals in the month preceding while others put together the set, wardrobes, lighting, sound, etc. The set was placed at the front of the church in the chancel area where our pastor normally speaks. We removed everything and replaced with a cool set that was designed, painted, and put together by church members. Here's a picture of Jesus, aka, Mike Vinson after makeup. Bud narrated and his son Steven played my brother Andrew. Posing hunched over and pointing at Jesus for an hour and a half was murder on my body. I was the last to speak. My arms began shaking from holding myself up towards the end. I was very nervous waiting my turn. I must've rehearsed my 8 minutes of non-stop lines a hundred times or more. But when it was finally my turn, the words seemed to flow effortlessly. At one point I was so caught up in the moment I almost cried. It was a very moving, spiritual performance and several of the 200+ that gathered were moved to tears. We ended the service with communion by intinction (dip your bread into a cup of grape juice). You can see the entire performance at First Presbyterian of Conway or search for it on You Tube. It took several showers and a jar of cold cream to remove all the stage makeup but I felt like a million bucks for being a small part of something so wonderful. From the benediction: Go out into the world in peace – Have Courage – Hold on to what is good – Return to no one evil for evil -- Support the weak -- Help the suffering -- Honor everyone -- And the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Log in and leave some comments or go to my pictures page to get more details on many of the pics you see here.

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