Holy Thursday in Iztapalapa

Iztapalapa is the easternmost of the "delegaciones" or boroughs of Mexico City.  With a population of 1.8 million people it is the most populous of all the "delagaciones".  At least fifty percent of the inhabitants live in poverty, and crime is a serious problem there.  Then why in the world did Alejandro and I go there yesterday?  Because Iztapalapa is the scene of the largest Passion Play in the world. 

The reenactment of the Passion draws more than two million spectators, and has a cast of 450 actors drawn from the population of Iztapalapa.  Shortly after Easter a committee will chose the young man who will play the part of Jesus the following year.  That person must be of excellent character, and will undergo a year of religious training and physical training.  (The actor must be in top physical condition in order to drag the 200 pound cross.)

Unlike the famous Passion Play of Oberramergau, Germany, this reenactment is not presented as one long performance, but is stretched out over the course of Holy Week, beginning on Palm Sunday and ending on Easter Sunday.  Nor is the play presented in a theater setting.  Each scene of the Passion is performed in a different location in Iztapalapa.  
The most attended portion of the play is on Good Friday, when the actor portraying Jesus carries the cross (while being whipped by Roman soldiers) one and a half miles through the streets of Iztapalapa and up the "Cerro de la Estrella" (Hill of the Star) where the crucifixion is enacted.

Alejandro wanted me to get an idea of the event without enduring the huge crowds that attend the major parts of the play.  We took the subway to Iztapalapa on Thursday afternoon, and walked to the church at the center of the reenactment area.  

      
                      You can see how the church's altar has been covered for Lent.

              This stage, set up on the plaza near the church represents Pilate's palace.

 

 And next to it is a stage representing the Temple in Jerusalem.

Among the crowd you will see young men dressed in purple robes who are referred to as "Nazarenos".  They are not actors in the play, but as an act of devotion they will follow Christ up the hill, often barefoot and carrying a cross of their own.

 

That afternoon there was a procession through the streets of some of the actors in the event.  While they were waiting for the procession to begin, I was able to capture some portraits of them.