Notes from the Cast: Frank Britton

Notes from actor Frank Britton who plays Pontius Pilate in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. Frank has also appeared in Forum show’s Everyman and Antigone. Photo by Melissa Blackall

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When we were all first informed about the opportunity to share our thoughts on this journey, I was very eager to respond, yet I found myself extremely hesitant to do so because I couldn’t articulate my experience at all. Racing, rambling thoughts couldn’t be formulated. I make a valiant effort now.

My immediate family (maternal side) is very small. My sister and I grew up rather unconventionally. I can only recall the amount of times I’ve been to church on one hand. One hand only. I believe now (as I did then) that our church-going experieces were in some way or another attempts to conform to the world around us. They more or less failed. We were never pressured to go to church, or be baptized, or practice any form of religion, which I found at one time all the more baffling because my late great-grandmother was an ordained minister. An extraordinary woman she was. Seeing her name on mail and correspondence with the title “Reverend” always fascinated me. Since she was already physically disabled around the time of my birth, mobility for her was limited. She lived just outside of Northeast DC in a small Maryland town called Fairmount Heights, so she was never far. Her house was not very ornate with religious articles, but the ones that were around were strategically and sparsely placed. She very rarely quoted scripture. I learned Psalm 133 from her, and lived by that psalm as a teen in school. She always carried a small copy of the New Testament ( in either a green or orange cover ) in her purse, yet the whole concept of religion and the practicing of it was not stressed to us at all. What she did stress, however, was education ( she was a graduate of Hampton Institute, now Hampton University, she was also a children’s literaure author late in life, although never published), living well, and “doing right”, as she lovingly worded it.

My sister and I were raised with no harsh or strict rules–we were indirectly encouraged to be individualists. I wholeheartedly support anyone who pursues the practice of the religion of their choosing, but I strongly disagree with anyone who imposes it on others to the point of discomfort. “Do what you do” is a mantra of mine. When it came to the subject of religion, I found it to be something I had naturally avoided. I’ve always been languishing in this sort of atheist / agnostic limbo—”What do I believe? Who (or what) should I believe in?” If I’ve been asking these questions since my formative years, I will continue to ask them in my remaining ones. My personal experiences and challenges have shaped my mentality when it comes to religion, and the existence of a higher power. Trials I myself have faced have always caused me to question if a higher power does exist. But then, I would always look from the outside in and realize since I was never devout from the jump, then I would ask, “Why should I not deserve to endure this? Is this punishment for not believing?” I don’t ask as much as I used to. I think that comes with age.

This production and the privilege of working on it has made such a positive impact me that it goes beyond description. Pontius Pilate is someone whose life and history has been disputed for over two millennia, and I didn’t know what to draw on or believe. This depiction of him intrigued me from the first time I read the play independently over two and a half years ago. I never judged him. As an actor, I had to believe that he believed in what he what he said he was doing, which was simply his job.

In regards to my relationship with religion and a higher power: I can’t confirm or deny anything. I only exist. I exist with some shading of hope that there is a purpose for my existence. In having said that, I believe that there may be one.