Refiner’s Fire: A Christ for the Crowds

A 32-year-old actor brings the Word alive on stages across America.

Acting the role of Jesus Christ is a life’s dream for many, but few are the actors who can play that most difficult of parts. Oregon actor Leonardo Defilippis is one who can. He foretells Christ’s final days, as recorded by Luke, on a dark stage lit by two menorahs. Christ dies in anguish on a large wooden cross. An angel dances at an empty tomb.

Defilippis, 32, is a Shakespearean actor who gave up an acting career four years ago to do one-man shows on the Gospel of Luke and the life of Saint Francis of Assisi. His recitation of the Gospel from memory has captivated west coast audiences.

Inspired by Mother Theresa to lead a simple life, Defilippis’s performances have always been free, enabling both rich and poor to attend. Sponsored by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland, Defilippis and his recent bride, Patti, have performed before more than 75,000 people.

They are best known for the production Saint Francis: Troubadour of God’s Peace (CT, Dec. 17, 1982). The success of that play has buoyed their Luke productions, The Gift of Peace (Luke 1–6) and The Passion According to Saint Luke (Luke 19–24). Defilippis had no intention of doing the Passion until a Benedictine monk suggested he act out the end of Luke to balance out the first part.

The Passion opens with the Old Testament prophecies that are fulfilled in Luke’s Gospel. Patti, who is veiled, sings them as a means of coaxing the audience to open their hearts to the gospel. Defilippis enters as Christ weeping over Jerusalem. As he quotes Luke verbatim, verse by verse, he acts out every part: Pilate, the Roman soldiers, the apostles. Scripture is heard and seen. His cloak symbolizes angels’ wings, Pilate’s toga, and the Devil enveloping Judas. His staff is Peter’s sword, the crossbeam for the cross, and a prophet’s staff.

The crucifixion takes place on a dim stage to the sound of a melancholy clarinet and orchestra. As the stage blackens, the only sound is howling wind. Defilippis appears again—this time in the resurrection dance as an angel dancing with the shroud. He and Patti end the production kneeling before the cross.

The audiences love it. Word of these productions has spread beyond the Northwest. Requests from across the country led to one recent tour through Missouri, where the pair performed at eight colleges and universities, and at one Assembly of God church. They got one of their best receptions from University of Missouri journalism students.

“Protestants are fascinated by Francis,” Defilippis says. “They’re not so much interested in the Gospels as they are in someone who lived them out.” Still, the gospel is never boring, he adds, and the two describe the Passion as their most powerful show.

“When you start performing the Word of God, you feel this tremendous grace,” he says. “You begin to see as an actor that this is not another script. If you believe the Word of God is God, then Jesus becomes present in the actor for the people. It hits you that a man died. People are in tears. This is the ultimate in drama.”

The acting out of such intense material—Scripture has inherent power in the words alone—puts a heavy responsibility on the actor, DeFilippis says. The audience identifies him with Jesus or Francis, and they confide their problems to him after performances. The children are less shy; they call him Jesus.

“Our faith has increased,” says Defilippis. “The more you experience [Jesus], the more intimate you become with him.”

Recently, the videotaped version of Francis won a bronze medal in the 1983 New York International Film and Television Festival, and the Proclaim Award from the New York-based Catholic Communications Campaign.

The couple has also formed a company: the Beaverton, Oregon-based St. Luke Productions. Following their tour of Catholic missions in California last September, they planned to videotape the Luke performances. The Francis narrative has been aired twice on commercial television in Portland, and the DeFilippises are deciding how to market it nationwide. They hope to balance future shows between Scripture and the saints: Saint Therese of Lisieus, the Book of Acts, and possibly Martin Luther.

Ms. Duin is a reporter for the Sun-Tattler, a Scripps-Howard newspaper in Hollywood, Florida.

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