The Yamoussoukro Côte d'Ivoire Mission of the Africa West Area celebrated Holy Week and Easter with a special Passion play and musical performance held on 21 April, 2025. Staged for members of the Yamoussoukro Stake and their friends from the community, this original production, entitled “Jésus le Christ,” involved over 50 missionaries as well as various members of the stake who took the audience through the Savior’s final days in Jerusalem to the fulfillment of His mission in Gethsemane, Golgotha, and the Garden Tomb.
Missionaries dramatize Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on 21 April, 2025.
Missionaries dramatize Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on 21 April, 2025.© 2025 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.The production involved a lot of preparation. Talents were solicited from around the mission and from the Yamoussoukro Stake to write the script, act, sing, play musical instruments, build the set, and create costumes. After a round of auditions, cast members were selected and rehearsals started online at the end of March while members of the Yamoussoukro Stake choir began rehearsing the songs that would be part of the program. As the program grew closer, missionaries gathered in Yamoussoukro to rehearse while several others of their companions organized the construction of the stage, risers, and set pieces, and while still others installed the sound and lighting systems.
As the program began, President Assepo J. Kouadjo, president of the Yamoussoukro Stake, welcomed the audience and set the stage for the production, after which the Mayor of Yamoussoukro offered a few words. The performance then opened with palm fronds and a representation of Christ’s triumphal entrance into Jerusalem. The performers then took the audience through the events of Holy Week, with some actors portraying the Apostles, others enacting the parable of the 10 virgins, and others still represented the high priests of the Sanhedrin. The performers and choir carefully presented the last supper, the suffering in the garden of Gethsemane, the accusation and trial of Jesus, and his crucifixion. The performance finally culminated with His glorious resurrection.
- Cast-and-Crew----missionaries-from-the-Yamoussoukro-Cote-d'Ivoire-Mission----assemble-for-a-group-photo-on-21-April,-2025.
- Performers-represent-the-resurrected-Savior-with-Mary-outside-the-tomb-on-21-April,-2025.
- An-appreciative-audience-celebrates-the-performance-on-21-April,-2025.
- Missionaries-reenact-the-celebration-of-the-Last-Supper,-21-April,-2025.
- Choral-performances-complement-the-dramatization-of-Holy-Week-and-Easter-on-21-April,-2025.
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In addition to actors representing the events on the set, the performance was punctuated by musical numbers involving solos and duets, numbers performed by the full choir, and narration that drew from the scriptures to guide the audience through the last events of the life of Jesus Christ.
Performers and audience alike shed tears as the Spirit touched them and they shared a sacred experience together in the celebration of Holy Week and Easter Sunday.