MES ÉVANGILES is actually two plays about the same mystery: LA NUIT DES OLIVIERS and L’EVANGILE SELON PILATE. The plays can be performed together or separately and are both dramatizations of the novel “L’evangile selon Pilate” from 2004.
In this monologue Schmitt reveals Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, during his final hour, just before he is captured by the Romans. This is a touching monologue about a person who knows he is going to die. Did Jesus know that he was the son of God from the very beginning, or did he discover this eventually? Schmitt portrays him as a man in doubt; who never answers with a “yes”, when asked if he is the messiah. Gradually he accepts his purpose and decides to play out his role and to fulfil his destiny. He says to Judas: “I do not know who I am. I only know that something bigger, than what I am, is inside of me. I bet I really am the son… Because when I lose, I lose nothing. But when I win, I win everything.” Schmitt is interested in the humanity of Jesus; his courage, his insecurity, his doubts, his anxiety, the insane beauty of his endeavour, the everlasting poetry in his loving view of the world and his spirit of self-sacrifice.
