Original Play Debuting at Capital Fringe Festival Offers Provocative Perspective on the Man Who Authorized Christ's Crucifixion

WASHINGTON, DC, June 25, 2012 (Press-News.org) Sparing an innocent man's life or subjecting yourself to extreme public scrutiny. If the choice was in your hands, what would you do? Original play, Ecce, begs this very question. Gearing up to make its theatrical debut on July 19th at the Capital Fringe Festival in Washington, DC, the play provides a wholly unique perspective on Pontius Pilate, the man responsible for authorizing the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Throughout the ages, Pilate has been depicted as a strong, seemingly arrogant figure whose acknowledgment of Jesus' innocence before authorizing his death becomes a minute and largely disregarded detail in a much bigger story. In Ecce, however, Pilate and his decision serve as the centerpiece. In fact, Ecce derives from the term Ecce Homo or "Behold the man", the very words that Pilate says as he's presenting Jesus to the crowd who has called for his death.

Produced by recent George Washington University graduate, Amanda Rhodes (A.J. Rhodes Entertainment), the play transports the well-known Biblical story into modern political times and presents hard-hitting subject matter through a humorous yet thought-provoking script. Robes and sandals have been substituted with suits and ties. Thees and thous have been replaced with contemporary, "business man to business man" lingo. And Pilate's traditional overconfident persona is, instead, neurotic , indecisive, and whiny. The result is a play that provokes both laughter and contemplation.

"As soon as I read the script for Ecce, I knew I wanted to produce it. I just felt it was a story that needed to be told," says Rhodes, a tenacious 23-year-old who has wasted no time cutting her teeth in the theatrical community. The former pre-med turned theater student already has formed her own production company, has landed an upcoming fellowship with Arena Stage, and is currently working with Award-winning Writer/Director Sandra Hodge, (known for her work with Actor Lawrence Fishburn) in the production of her play, "Daddy's Maybe", which is opening at Howard University this June.

Tickets for Rhodes' production of Ecce are currently on sale and can be purchased through the play's website: www.eccefringe.com. The play will open on July 19th at the Warehouse Theatre, 645 New York Ave., Washington, DC.

For more information about the play, email Lisa Horan at lisa@popmarkmedia.com or call 410.929.4380.

For information about the Capital Fringe Festival, visit www.capitalfringe.org.