WITH the upcoming Holy Week celebration, innovations have been added to Buhing Kalbaryo 2024 to enhance the Cebuanos’ spiritual devotion through the Good Friday play on March 29.
In an interview on Tuesday, March 19, Elmer “Jojo” Labella, overall creative and artistic consultant of Buhing Kalbaryo 2024, said it will be more vibrant as the organizers will add songs and music to the play.
He said more biblical accounts that were not part of the previous Good Friday play will also be included to add context to the annual portrayal of the “Passion and Death of Jesus Christ.”
Labella said the annual play is a way to evangelize and convert people to the Christian faith, providing spiritual nourishment during Holy Week, which is observed from March 24 to 31 this year.
“We’ve added more scenes now, but still according to biblical accounts because it’s very vital that it won’t show the same things over and over,” Labella said in Cebuano.
“This time, we will give the characters lines and they will sing. More or less, it’s going to be a mini-musical,” he added.
About 100 actors will take part in the annual play scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m. on Good Friday at the grounds of the Archdiocesan Shrine of San Nicolas de Tolentino Parish along C. Padilla St., Cebu City.
A Via Crucis or Station of the Cross will then take place along V. Rama Ave. It will conclude on Espina Compound in Barangay Guadalupe.
An actor portraying Jesus Christ will carry a wooden cross along the national highway, stopping at each station of the cross.
The play will end with the portrayal of the crucifixion of Jesus at exactly 3 p.m.
Labella said organizers hope to draw thousands of spectators in this year’s play.
He said organizers are closely coordinating with various departments of the Cebu City Government and the Philippine National Police for security.
Ambulances will also be stationed in various strategic areas of the Via Crucis that will be provided by the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CCDRRMO), in coordination with the City Health Department.
It was in 1997 when the first Buhing Kalbaryo street play took place in partnership with the late Msgr. Esteban Binghay, then parish priest of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish along with Monsignors Jose Montecillo and Rommel Kintanar.
Buhing Kalbaryo has since become a part of Cebu City’s Holy Week tradition throughout the years. / EHP