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….
Tag: Mark as dramatist
Why I think Mark wrote a play
Here I will defend my theory that Mark wrote a play that was performed on a stage, and a narrative text that condensed the play. This post supplements the case I made in my book, The Two Gospels of Mark: Performance and Text. The genre of the Gospel of Mark is still open The Gospel…
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…
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…
What is the meaning of “Herodians” in the Gospel of Mark?
Summary “Herodians” appear in the text of Mk 3:6 and 12:13. I believe that they were added by an editor. Herodians do not speak or contribute anything distinctive to the action. The name is a distinction without a difference. During the performance of the Gospel of Mark, there were no Herodians onstage. Because Mark’s purpose…
What was the title of Mark’s play?
Here I investigate the title of the play behind the Gospel of Mark. In antiquity, comedies and mime plays seem to have been named for the profession or a particular quality of the main character, e.g., “The Grouch” or “The Girl from Samos.” Sometimes, the name referred to a plot development, “The False Accuser.” The…
In the Gospel of Mark, why does Jesus appear in Galilee?
In the Gospel of Mark, why does Jesus appear in Galilee, and not in some other place? There are three good reasons why Jesus appears in Galilee. First, the Sea of Galilee borders the Galilee. Mark can have characters in his story who are fishermen. He can stage scenes that use a boat, such as…