Here I suggest how Mark might have used costumes to communicate the roles of Jesus’s enemies to the audience during the performance of the play that underlies the Gospel of Mark. The social identities or personal names of these persons were not spoken. Instead, the audience was shown something visually distinctive that identified the role….
Category: Performance of the play
The Gethsemane Scene in Mark
Here, I discuss the Gethsemane scene in the Gospel of Mark. (I did not discuss it in my book, The Two Gospels of Mark: Performance and Text.) I continue to assume that the Gospel of Mark was originally a performed play; the text we know is Mark’s narrative rewrite of the script. The Gethsemane scene…
“Jericho” in the Gospel of Mark: A new explanation
Summary Did Mark write a scene set in Jericho, now missing (Mk 10:46)? In my book, The Two Gospels of Mark: Performance and Text, I assumed that he did. I’ve changed my mind. There was never a scene set in Jericho in the Gospel of Mark. The audience saw a large crowd (the Chorus) carrying…
Flavia Domitilla donated the use of catacombs; Mark’s play celebrated the donation
Summary I begin in Flavia Domitilla’s world. In my book, The Two Gospels of Mark: Performance and Text, I proposed that Flavia Domitilla produced a play that was privately performed for Mark’s Roman congregation. Flavia and her husband Titus Flavius Clemens were honored during the performance of the play. It was likely followed by a…
What is the meaning of “Boanerges”?
In Mk 3:17 Jesus gives two disciples the nickname “Boanerges”; the text explains that the meaning of “Boanerges” is “Sons of Thunder.” The problem is that “Boanerges” is not good Aramaic. As Wikipedia says, “Given the Greek translation that comes with it (‘Sons of Thunder’), it seems that the first element of the name is…
Flavia Domitilla’s children in Mark’s play
Summary At the time of Mark’s play c. 95 CE, Flavia was in her late twenties or early thirties. She had borne seven children, with the maximum age of 16. (We don’t know if all survived infancy). Here, I identify the roles for children in Mark’s play, propose that Flavia Domitilla’s children did play those…
The Bethsaida section, Part III: The editing
Summary In my book, The Two Gospels of Mark: Performance and Text, I discuss the Bethsaida section in the Gospel of Mark (Mk 6:45-8:26). I review the staging of each scene in Mark’s original performed play, and explain why I think some scenes in the narrative text are original and some are by an editor….
The Bethsaida section, Part I: The blind man of Bethsaida scene
Summary This post builds on the discussion of the blind man of Bethsaida scene in my book, The Two Gospels of Mark: Performance and Text. Here, I imagine how the scene (Mk 8:22-26) was staged. I conclude that the scene was intended for the world of the audience. I argue that Mark wrote the blind…
The Joseph of Arimathea scene in the Gospel of Mark, revisited
Summary When I wrote my book, The Two Gospels of Mark: Performance and Text, I assumed that the received text of the Joseph of Arimathea scene in the Gospel of Mark (Mk 15:42-46) preserved the performance of Mark’s play. I assumed that the audience heard the spoken words “Iōsēph ho apo Harimathaias.” I assumed that…
Dramatic enactment of the Gospel of Mark by actor Max McLean
A YouTube search yields several dramatic readings of the Gospel of Mark, including an excellent one by actor David Suchet. But the dramatic enactment of the Gospel of Mark by actor Max McLean is in a class by itself. McLean dramatizes the dialogue. He uses the stage and all of the actor’s craft to keep…