Sean Walsh

Irish Independent Review of At the Praetorium

The following review appeared in the Irish Independent on 30 march 2013.

Good Friday is, for believers in the Christ-story, the most dramatic day in world history. Two thousands years on it is still written about, remembered, re-enacted. We know the story so well — or do we?

In this new book of three short plays — At the Praetorium (available on Amazon) — Sean Walsh revisits Good Friday and views the trial and crucifixion of Christ through another prism — the eyes of the “minor” characters in the story — the thieves who were crucified with Christ, a Roman officer, Pontius Pilate and his wife, and Joseph of Arimathea.

Although there are three plays here, the first two — Three for Calvary and Pilate under Pressure are fused into the third, At the Praetorium.

This piece is largely based on Matthew’s Gospel of the Passion and could readily be performed in modern dress. In fact, the author recommends this, as “the parallels with today’s world would be all the more obvious”. Here indeed are lust for power, corruption, bribery, weak leadership . . .

Sean Walsh is a former head of Radio Drama in RTÉ and his experience there stands to him as a playwright. The dialogue is tight and convincing, the tension is well-maintained and the action moves along briskly.

In At the Praetorium, Walsh has managed to chisel out in a stark and simple fashion a whole new perspective on the crucifixion story. As he points out in a postscript, “to focus solely on Jesus as Victim . . . is to miss the deeper significance of his trials. It is not a case of black and white . . .”

It is only when we get inside the minds of the likes of Pilate and Barabbas that the real drama of Good Friday comes home to us.

In these simply written but convincing dramas Walsh is putting us readers/spectators centre-stage and asking the challenging question from the old spiritual: “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?”

JOHN QUINN – Irish Independent.

At the Praetorium: Good Friday Revisited Sean Walsh CreateSpace,£6.15, pbk,160pages

Available with free P&P on www.kennys.ie or by calling 91 709350