'Passion at Red Sezze

At least half the 20,000 citizens of the Italian town of Sezze are Communists or Communist sympathizers. Last week, a tenth of them joined in a moving re-enactment of the sufferings of Christ. For the first time since the war, Sezze had decided to revive the passion play that had been its tradition for over 700 years. Unlike the world-famed performance at Oberammergau, Sezze's passion play is performed in the streets of the village by 1,500 of its citizens.

Pietro Pasqualucci has played the grueling part of Christ several times before. Since the war, he has been out of his accountant's job, from which he was fired as a Fascist. Laura Calderozzi, also a veteran actress, and now a mother of six, again played the Virgin Mary. One of the few Communists in a major role was Moses. A few days before the play's single performance, he surprised his fellow actors by announcing that he had decided to rejoin the church.

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