Easter 2017: Unforgotten

As I was going through the theatre posts, I noticed that I was missing one year’s production. “Wait a minute”, I thought, “I was quite sure I wrote for every year except the recent ones”. I was wrong.

I thought I forgot to write about… “Unforgotten”. The irony.

Digging back again into my Facebook posts, I found a clue and realised that I had intentionally skipped posting about it.

There were discussions in the comments and Alex (I can’t remember the last name) apparently had deleted his comments. Unfortunately, I can’t really recall what it was.

As to why I didn’t make a post production write up, it’s because I didn’t feel comfortable posting (the post was also only to friends) due to new updates on the legal issues our church faced.

So, now that the legal battle is over and sufficient time (at least to me) has passed, I think it’s okay to share this very late post.

This is one of the posts where I’ll recall as much as I can from it to add more context to what happened behind the scenes.

Post-production Updates From 2026

This will be tough, it’s 9 years ago.

This was one of the years where I had many disciples with me. Throughout the years, the number of disciples started getting fewer due to the volunteers having different commitments.

It was nice to see that we’ve had more people - and this was also due to the timing when the School of Theology had intake and having certain hours in ministry was part of their course.

In future, the schedules changed so we didn’t have as many whose timelines matched and that meant fewer people who could serve with non-speaking roles.

Interaction With The Cast

I recall this was one of the shows that I didn’t have as many lines to memorise so it was a challenge to make each scene matter because though this story was about a family’s journey, it was also about Jesus’ impact through their lives.

This was still in the first few years when I acted. So, with more experience now, I could tell how God has changed my posture. In the past, my head leaned forward quite a bit.

As I re-watch this, I am reminded that every part of my body must be controlled properly to portray Jesus as faithfully as I can.

Seth Barabbas & Family

Each of the family members has gone through a lot of pain.

• Seth convinced he was forgotten by God and suffered as a slave
• The mother believing she lost her son and she’s a terrible mother
• Hannah, the sister, losing her mind for years

There weren’t many exchanges with Seth, whose heart has been hardened from all his bitter experiences.

Being kind to him and listening to him while not being overly preachy was tough because when someone speaks out due to hurt, getting into teaching mode can be very off-putting in modern context.

Though Jesus’ interaction with the mother and Hannah were very brief, the impact they received was visually more understandable for the audience.

For Seth, less so.

The only place that Seth could really listen to the words of Jesus was after the release in the prison scene. And this was the 1st show where we revealed the main character was Barabbas - whom Jesus also died for.

The reveal of his last name was deliberately only mentioned after he was released by the centurion, before Jesus goes on the road to Damascus.

We had to add the words before Jesus dies on the cross - though, in the following years, I think we avoided this as much as possible because Jesus’ death was well documented. While we do take creative liberties, we want to stay as faithful as possible to Scripture too.

I really enjoyed the scenes where I could interact with Esther, the mother.

The 1st time I knew her was when she was serving as the Stage Manager for our productions. She was a really good SM and did fantastic for her character.

She made it easy for me to feel for her when she cried bitterly. In hindsight, I think I should have given her more time to cry in that scene to tug on the heartstrings of the audience.

By the end, it was a happy ending for the family as all 3 have been touched by Jesus in ways that mattered to each individual.

The Disciples

In my 1st scene, to show Jesus’ bond with the disciples, bread was playfully thrown around and one of them hit my head. When we first did our script read, I think this also got a reaction from the actors.

I’m glad that when we did this on stage, it got some reaction from the crowd as well because we usually don’t have this kind of treatment to, you know, Jesus.

I remember one live show where the bread missed me.

I didn’t feel the impact but I could still hear the reaction from the disciples. Even though it was supposed to hit me - so I played on with that and said something along the lines that it was okay since it was a near-miss.

It was important because my lines here were needed so the next person knew it was his turn to say the lines.

In the few interactions with the disciples, the communion was my favourite scene.

In my spirit-man, I felt the weight of the scene because He knew that He would be given over to be tortured and crucified shortly. I felt the weight of the words so I took my time in this scene.

It wasn’t often that I had to speak the entire Scripture in Chinese, and while I practiced it many times, there was a flow to this scene that I’ve not felt before. It reminds me of Jesus’ constant surrender to God’s will.

What I’m Reminded Of After 9 Years

Like Seth, as I grew older I became strong and independent. Instead of letting others command me around at workplaces as an introvert, I learned to become more vocal and express how I felt.

The difference is that I wasn’t alone. I had the privilege of being surrounded by church and ministry members.

I have confessed openly many times to others that if I wasn’t a Christian, I would have gone mad by now from all the pressures I faced. Much like how Hannah had constant headaches that made her scream.

I remember whenever I had something on my mind, I had ways to let it out and if I didn’t, I took a walk and spoke with God.

And also, like the mother, I too am playing a role where I am doing my best to hold things together. To keep the family as a unit without losing anyone.

Just as the mother pined for her son, I pray continuously for my mother and my youngest brother’s salvation. They’ve watched me in my shows many times and I pray that God will have mercy, and they will open their hearts to receive Him.

Seth thought God had forgotten him. He hadn’t. The production was called Unforgotten. God remembers and He sees. Amen.