Last updated September 2022
Paso Viviente, the same company who organises the Roman market in the city, are responsible for this wonderful event on Holy Thursday. It is an outdoor, theatrical production of the last days of Christ’s life. It is very cleverly done and I enjoyed it very much.
The event lasted a little over 2 hours. It started around 9 pm and ended around 11:30 pm. It is a moving theatrical production that stops at various points in the city. Each point has a proper stage with lights, speakers etc. I can proudly say that I have seen a lot of theatre (volunteering at different theatre festivals in Dublin certainly helped me there) and I can confidently say that I had never seen anything like it before. And it is VERY well organised, no blips at all, which is impressive because there are many stages to man, lots of opportunities for lighting or sound to mess up but nothing faltered, all flowed very smoothly.
It is a very immersive experience, you are outside surrounded by many people all watching the production. The excellent music and costumes also help make it immersive. There are also many temporary structures: an arch, a temple, statues etc. If you were at the Roman Market (MercaForum) the weekend before (the weekend of Palm Sunday/Domingo de Ramos) then these structures will look familiar. The same company organises both events. They are a very good company!
The different stages are very clever, clearly Paso Viviente know Calahorra very well, and use its topography to their advantage. E.g. a real olive tree is used for Judas’ betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemene scene and a hill is used for the crucifixion. Each stage is detailed, each has structures to help draw you into the story they are creating for you. The dramatic music helps create a powerful atmosphere too. The speaking parts are over the speakers, the actors don’t speak, they act using exaggerated gestures so it is easy to see. The speaking is all in Spanish but if you know the story of Jesus then it is easy to keep up. Even if not, if you watch their actions it is easy to understand what it happening.
It is completely free which is amazing. It also means that there are a lot of people, especially as this is quite unique, it is not something that every town/city in Spain has. When I was there in 2019, there were people who came all the way from Salamanca specially for it. There could have been people from even further away too. Advice is to go early and to get a good place at one of the stages as you’ll then be able to see that scene very well. After that, you have to walk along with everyone else and try to see as best you can.
The production starts with The Last Supper and continues until Jesus’ death and resurrection. It is very realistic. They even put the actors on real crosses, not with nails, but it shows how detailed the production is. The town’s hill is used to their advantage for this scene!
There are also very good processions as part of the performance. Romans on horseback, Romans in phalanx formation, women and children and more. All dressed in very detailed clothes.
This is the same wonderful company responsible for the amazing, immersive Roman market (MercaForum) which takes place on Palm Sunday – see my post on it HERE.
You can read more about both of these wonderful events on their website:
https://pasoviviente.es/grupo-paso-viviente/
That’s all for now, stay tuned to read about the traditional Good Friday processions that will take over these very streets and transform them utterly. Here’s a sneak peak . . .
Until tomorrow! ¡Hasta mañana!
