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"You're going to die, my brother. Shut up. And stop crying," shouted the apostle Peter, a mad look in his eye, as he pointed a revolver at the head of the Messiah during a rehearsal late Wednesday in the poverty-wracked slum.
Staged by the Theatro Provocacao, "to provoke public reflection," according to founder Adilson Dias, 30, the "Other Passion" adapts passages from the Gospels and sets them in a favela in contemporary Brazil.
The scourge of organized crime in Rio serves as the dramatic backdrop.
The annual homicide rate in this city -- which is hosting the Olympic Games in 2016 -- is 26.6 per 100,000 inhabitants, more than triple the worldwide average of eight per 100,000.
"If the suffering of Jesus made him a Saint, our country must beatify lots of kids," said Dias, "In the favelas, there's a real massacre of talent," said Dias, himself a former street child.
"I wanted to render a history of Jesus that was closer to our reality," he added.
The "City of God" and its 40,000 inhabitants situated in the west of Rio was made famous in the 2002 film of the same name, which captured the extreme violence of the drug traffickers who live there. The violence has since been subdued and the "narcos" kicked out.
One month ago, US President Barack Obama made a brief visit here during a trip to Brazil, a visit fraught with symbolism in a country whose 76 million Afro-Brazilians constitute the second largest black population in the world after Nigeria.
"Without the help of the new police community, I would never have been able to mount this production," stressed Dias, who left the favela after receiving a scholarship to study elsewhere.
In the "Other Passion," all the actors are black. The Messiah, played by Sandro Bastos, 35, is a young man who tries to convert his two drug trafficking friends, the Apostles Peter and Judas. But in the end he is betrayed, accused of lowering drug trafficking profits with his proselytizing.
Azul, a corrupt police officer who provides the criminals with drugs and symbolizes Jesus' executioner, is condemned to death. Instead of nailing Jesus to a cross, Azul kills him in the "microwave," the torture used by the "narcos" who burn their victims in a pile of tires.
Regiane Braga, 23, plays the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the repentent sinner, Mary Magdalene. "Mary is a washerwoman, like many women here," she said, "while Mary Magdalene is a young woman who is the victim of domestic violence."
"For the first time, the Passion will have a language that is more accessible, and that will provoke reflection: is there a Mary Magdalene near us?" she added.
When Peter, played by Reinaldo Junior, 19, disavows Jesus three times, three rifle shots are heard, not the crowing of the rooster, as it is described in the Bible.
Entry to the drama, whose staging costs of around $5,000 is being paid for by a private company, was free, although children under 12 were not allowed to participate since there are violent scenes and fake weapons.
The theater has helped many actors to escape organized crime.
"I spent a lot of time using drugs, and I even dealt drugs. I saw many of my friends end up in the 'microwave,'" said Wanderson de Souza Damasceno, 28, who plays one of the apostles.
"Drugs are a dead-end road," she added, giving a salute to a "former criminal jailed for 15 years who became a evangelical pastor."
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Staged by the Theatro Provocacao, "to provoke public reflection," according to founder Adilson Dias, 30, the "Other Passion" adapts passages from the Gospels and sets them in a favela in contemporary Brazil.
The scourge of organized crime in Rio serves as the dramatic backdrop.
The annual homicide rate in this city -- which is hosting the Olympic Games in 2016 -- is 26.6 per 100,000 inhabitants, more than triple the worldwide average of eight per 100,000.
"If the suffering of Jesus made him a Saint, our country must beatify lots of kids," said Dias, "In the favelas, there's a real massacre of talent," said Dias, himself a former street child.
"I wanted to render a history of Jesus that was closer to our reality," he added.
The "City of God" and its 40,000 inhabitants situated in the west of Rio was made famous in the 2002 film of the same name, which captured the extreme violence of the drug traffickers who live there. The violence has since been subdued and the "narcos" kicked out.
One month ago, US President Barack Obama made a brief visit here during a trip to Brazil, a visit fraught with symbolism in a country whose 76 million Afro-Brazilians constitute the second largest black population in the world after Nigeria.
"Without the help of the new police community, I would never have been able to mount this production," stressed Dias, who left the favela after receiving a scholarship to study elsewhere.
In the "Other Passion," all the actors are black. The Messiah, played by Sandro Bastos, 35, is a young man who tries to convert his two drug trafficking friends, the Apostles Peter and Judas. But in the end he is betrayed, accused of lowering drug trafficking profits with his proselytizing.
Azul, a corrupt police officer who provides the criminals with drugs and symbolizes Jesus' executioner, is condemned to death. Instead of nailing Jesus to a cross, Azul kills him in the "microwave," the torture used by the "narcos" who burn their victims in a pile of tires.
Regiane Braga, 23, plays the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the repentent sinner, Mary Magdalene. "Mary is a washerwoman, like many women here," she said, "while Mary Magdalene is a young woman who is the victim of domestic violence."
"For the first time, the Passion will have a language that is more accessible, and that will provoke reflection: is there a Mary Magdalene near us?" she added.
When Peter, played by Reinaldo Junior, 19, disavows Jesus three times, three rifle shots are heard, not the crowing of the rooster, as it is described in the Bible.
Entry to the drama, whose staging costs of around $5,000 is being paid for by a private company, was free, although children under 12 were not allowed to participate since there are violent scenes and fake weapons.
The theater has helped many actors to escape organized crime.
"I spent a lot of time using drugs, and I even dealt drugs. I saw many of my friends end up in the 'microwave,'" said Wanderson de Souza Damasceno, 28, who plays one of the apostles.
"Drugs are a dead-end road," she added, giving a salute to a "former criminal jailed for 15 years who became a evangelical pastor."
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