Experience the Passion of Christ in your own backyard

Australia has its own version: the Melbourne Passion Play. And unlike its renowned German counterpart, our play is staged every year – rather than just once per decade.

“It’s a real scene-by-scene representation of the ministry of Jesus by real people in real, natural surroundings.” – Gino Gammaldi

This year marks the 23rd season of the Melbourne Passion Play, which has “become an institution” and “an event not to be missed,” according to the play’s manager Gino Gammaldi. It now attracts thousands of people each year from all over Victoria, interstate and even from overseas.

Like most Aussie activities, one defining feature of the Melbourne Passion Play is its outdoor setting. This allows the audience to  progressively move with the cast during some of the 24 scenes of Jesus’s life that are acted out – starting with his baptism and ending with the resurrection. Audience members become part of the story, joining the “crowd of 5000” who sit at Jesus’s feet to hear the Beatitudes before being fed with loaves and fishes and standing with those who watch the crucifixion.

“[It’s] not the usual and traditional reference to the Passion that is a part of Holy Week within the churches of most religious denominations, but a real scene-by-scene representation of the ministry of Jesus by real people in real, natural surroundings,” Gammaldi tells Eternity.

“Our Passion of Jesus Christ is portrayed each year in some of the most beautiful settings that nature can provide.”