Passion play: the often fraught history of the theatre and Christianity – The Conversation

During Holy Week – the run-up to Easter – theatrical versions of religious narratives abound. Across the world, countless church groups present Easter plays, people join processions and stage tableaux – and since 2010, and come rain or shine, a troupe called the Wintershall Players have enacted the Passion of Christ on Good Friday in London’s Trafalgar Square.

Led by professional actor James Burke-Dunsmore, this otherwise amateur company performs in a marked-off area with the audience on all four sides, while the action is relayed in close-up on a nearby screen. The performance is also streamed live via Facebook, and last year attracted extensive commentary, including bemused internet surfers asking: “Where is this?”

Given the pouring rain, Jesus praying in Aramaic, the lions on Nelson’s Column, Pilate on horseback and emergency services sirens wailing in the background, “Where is this?” seemed a very reasonable question to pose.

But just over 100 years ago, the Wintershall Players could not have performed in the UK at all, let alone in Trafalgar Square – because representing the Holy Family dramatically was illegal. At a time when the Oberammergau Passion Play tourist trade was cranking up in Germany, staging a nativity story in a church in Britain was liable to be banned by the theatrical censor, the Lord Chamberlain.

Looking for God

Theatre and Christianity have often had a strange and volatile relationship. Christians have picketed theatres, called for the censorship of plays that offended them – and even attempted to ban the art form

Article source: http://theconversation.com/passion-play-the-often-fraught-history-of-the-theatre-and-christianity-115675