On a whim, armchair-atheist Richard Kelly Kemick joins the 100-plus cast of <em>The Canadian Badlands Passion Play</em>, North America's largest production of its kind and one of the main tourist attractions in Alberta. By the time closing night is over, Kemick has a story to tell. From the controversial choice of casting to the bizarre life in rehearsal, this glorious behind-the-scenes look at one of Canada's strangest theatrical spectacles also confronts the role of religion in contemporary life and the void left by its absence for non-believers.

In the tradition of tragic luminaries such as David Foster Wallace, Jonathan Goldstein, and David Sedaris, Kemick's <em>I Am Herod</em> gives its congregation of readers unparalleled access to the players of the Passion: there's Judas, who wears a leather jacket even when it's 30˚C; the Chief Sadducee, who is ostracized for his fanaticism; Pilate, the only actor who swears; the Holy Spirit, who is breaking ground as the role's first female actor; and the understudy Christ, the previous year's real-deal Christ who was demoted to backup and now performs illicit one-man shows backstage.

<strong>GET THE BOOK</strong>

<a href="https://shop.owlsnestbooks.com/item/Hotw0wf-6PHTE4rOIJNpZg">Owl’s Nest Books</a> (Calgary) | <a href="https://calgary.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S95C1288080">Calgary Public Library</a>

<strong>BE CURIOUSER</strong>
<ul>
<li>Podcast: <a href="https://naturallifepodcast.com/">Natural Life</a></li>
<li>The Night of the Good Towels: CBC Radio’s <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/docproject/halloween-spooktacular-1.6221306/how-my-high-school-halloween-party-became-the-stuff-of-nightmares-1.6221310"><em>The Doc Project</em></a></li>
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