The Jueus of the Verges Procession bring voice and movement to the street scenes: they taunt Jesus, accompany him on the journey following his condemnation and take part in the falls. Behind this dramatic presence lies a history of memory, rehearsals and relationships between participants.
The local name and the theatrical role
In Verges, els Jueus, literally “the Jews”, is the traditional name of this performance group. The script published in 2011 also calls the characters delivering certain speeches saions. This article concerns those roles in the local drama, without treating them as a description of the Jewish people as a whole.
Tunics, burning torches and stage props help make the group recognisable in the procession. Their function differs from that of the manages: the script gives them speeches and actions that heighten the condemned man’s suffering.
Street verses and the jumping sardana
Short verses make the action understandable in the street. The 2011 text preserves the saions’ speeches and describes a sardana of jumps and taunts around the cross, while the manages form an outer circle. Examples appear in the Veronica scene and the Second Fall, on pages 107 and 123.
This expressiveness depends on coordinated theatrical action. Stage directions in a particular edition help explain it, but do not automatically establish every movement in another period. The verses belong to a textual tradition with adaptations and different sources, discussed in the article on versions and authorship.
Caiaphas and the organisation of the group
Josep Maria Llach i Grande remembers a period without written rules comparable to those developed later. In his account, Caiaphas provided a point of reference and helped lead the group. This informal coordination should not be mistaken for a complete absence of organisation.
The Second Fall illustrates the work behind the scene. Josep Maria explains that the staging of the Second Fall was gradually worked out until it was recorded in a written protocol. His memory records this process of coordination; without having located the original document, we cannot specify the year, identify every party involved or attribute its writing to a single person.
Meals that helped build the group
Pere Fuster recalls a period towards the end of the 1990s when finding enough participants was difficult. He explains that he proposed meals to which everyone brought something: bread, tomatoes, oil or food to share. The gatherings began in a space where Procession equipment was stored and later moved to his home.
Pere remembers more people joining and the meals continuing at his home until he gave up the role. This is his account of one way of renewing the group’s enthusiasm, rather than a foundation date or a single explanation of its entire continuity.
Changes during Llach’s direction
Josep Maria associates Lluís Llach’s period with a redistribution of the groups to prevent Jesus, the manages and the Jueus from passing too closely together. He remembers proposals from participants themselves and the Jueus taking a position further back, which he considered an improvement.
His account helps explain a reform involving the participants, but does not establish an exact plan of the procession or a date for each adjustment. Llach’s publicly announced direction covers 2009–2011; that chronology does not turn every remembered change into a documented decision from a specific year.
Sources
La Processó de Verges. Text de l’obra (Diputació de Girona, 2011), introductory study by Jordi Roca and script, particularly pp. 107 and 123.
Interviews with Josep Maria Llach i Grande and Pere Fuster within the Memòria Viva La Processó project, analysed as part of this research. Memories of coordination, meals and redistribution remain attributed, without supplying unverified dates or identities.
