Passion Plays Around the World Facts & Worksheets

A religious drama illustrating the Passion of Jesus Christ—his trial, suffering, and death—is known as the Passion Play or Easter Pageant. It is a customary aspect of Lent in many Christian traditions, especially Catholicism.

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Key Facts & Information

ORIGINS

• The first Passion Plays took place in Europe in the Middle Ages to evangelize the masses. The custom of a Passion Play has its origins in religious ceremonies. 
• Initially performed in Latin by monks, Passion Plays gradually began to be presented in local languages by members of the community. 
• Various communities gradually adapted to audience expectations by adding characters, freely translating hymns and scripture, and changing the content and manner as time passed.

ORIGIN AND HISTORY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

• The Quem Quaeritis (from the Latin meaning Whom do you seek?), one of the first works of theatre in medieval Britain, consisting of four lines uttered by two choirs dramatically addressing each other. 
• It is from this work that the birth and evolution of Passion Plays in the UK are traced. It also has roots in Corpus Christi celebrations held outside churches and the liturgical theater utilized within them.
• Below is an English translation of the Quem Quaeritis by John Gassner, editor of Medieval and Tudor Drama.

• The Passion Plays and Mystery Cycles were banned during the Reformation because of their Catholic influences. Finally, a Puritan Parliament suppressed the playhouses in 1642, outlawing all theater.
• Following the Restoration, theaters reopened in 1660, allowing women to perform on stage for the first time. But for the following few hundred years, politics and religion were strictly prohibited in England, and no Passion Play was ever shown in public.

ORIGIN AND HISTORY IN EUROPE

• The Easter Drama and the Passion Play had a similar growth process. Both have their roots in Church tradition, which mandates, among other things, that on Good Friday, the Gospel will be recited in segments by different people.
• Subsequently, the Passion Play debuted, first in Latin and later in common languages. The plot and structure were gradually modified to meet the demands of the audience until, by the fourteenth century, well-known religious plays had emerged. 
• The Benediktbeuern Passion Drama, intended to be sung, is still primarily composed of Roman ceremonial words in prose and of church songs.
• The play, as has been passed down, ends with Jesus and his Twelve Apostles seated at the Last Supper. The Vienna Passion encompasses the complete history of the Redemption and starts with Lucifer’s rebellion and subsequent fall.
• The Canon Baldemar von Peterwell Passion Play, the first Frankfort Passion Performance that took two days to perform, was more lavishly ornate than the previous Passion Plays of this era.
• Just the Ordo sive Registrum, a lengthy roll of parchment intended for the director and including stage directions and the opening lines of the dialogue, has survived this play.

TYROLESE PASSION PLAY

• Almost all these Passion Plays are related to those from the Tyrol in some way, with some drawing inspiration from and others contributing to that source. 
• These, too, are based on the Tyrolese Passion drama, created between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. With the help of the plays that have come to us, historian J. E. Wackernell has recreated this period.
• The Passion Plays were carefully developed in Tyrol; in 1514, they were presented in Bolzano with great splendor and continued for at least seven days. 
• The notion of giving women control over traditionally feminine roles was also appeared here. However, it took until the seventeenth century for this innovation to catch on.

OBERAMMERGAU PASSION PLAY

• The Oberammergau Passion Play is performed by the locals of Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany, every decadal year since 1680 and every ten years from 1634 to 1674.
• The play’s text was created by combining four different manuscripts from the 15th and 16th centuries.
• The play is a portrayal of Jesus’ passion, spanning the brief final phase of his life beginning with his arrival in Jerusalem and ending with his crucifixion. It is the earliest continuously existing vernacular drama since the age of Christianity.

BACKGROUND OF THE OBERAMMERGAU PASSION PLAY

• According to folklore, a bubonic plague outbreak during the Thirty Years’ War devastated Bavaria. There were only two married couples left in Bad Kohlgrub due to its extreme depopulation.
• Until September 25,  1633, when a man named Kaspar Schisler arrived home after working in the nearby village of Eschenlohe, Oberammergau was free of the plague. Half the village of Oberammergau would perish over the course of the following 33 days: 81 inhabitants.
• The villagers made a promise on October 28, 1633, that if God protected them from the plague, they would act out a play on the life and death of Jesus every ten years. 
• Almost 2,000 people—all villagers—are employed in the production as actors, musicians, stagehands, and other roles. The play includes spoken dramatic text, melodic and choral accompaniment, and tableaux vivants, which are stationary actors portraying verbally described scenes from the Old Testament for the audience.
• The typology, or the link between the Old and New Testaments, is built around these scenes. They feature King Ahasuerus’ decision to choose Esther over Vashti, the brothers’ sale of Joseph to Egypt as a slave, and Moses summoning the Nehushtan (bronze snake) in the wilderness. Each scene comes before the part of the play that is thought to foreshadow it.
• The three shown tableaux are shown to the audience as representing the crucifixion of Jesus, Judas selling knowledge about Jesus’ whereabouts, and Christianity triumphing over Judaism.

THE PASSION PLAY THEATRE

• It was chosen to stage the Passion Play in the church cemetery, next to the graves of the peasants who had perished in the epidemic, as Oberammergau’s original parish church proved far too tiny for performances of the play.
• The straightforward timber stage framework was enhanced during the ensuing years with scenery and stage equipment. By the middle of the 18th century, it was clear that the graveyard was also inadequate, and a new location was chosen in a nearby field. 
• Nonetheless, the stage required special construction each year the Play was performed.
• Since World War II, the drama has undergone the following alterations, in addition to others, in how it addresses the accusations of deicide, collective guilt, supersessionism, and typology:

• the Temple traders’ contribution has diminished;
• The Rabbi character was cut, and another character now has his lines;
• Jewish priests no longer don headgear resembling horns;
• Rabbi Yeshua has been used to refer to Jesus;
• Hebrew prayers are spoken in the play by Jesus and others in snippets;
• Jews are depicted arguing with others about Jewish theology, not just about Jesus;
• Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest, is threatened by Pilate, who is made to appear more despotic, and it is made evident that Caiaphas does not speak on behalf of all Jews.

MODERN PERFORMANCES OF THE PASSION PLAY

AUSTRALIA

• The Iona Passion Play began in Queensland in 1958 and now travels to Australian cities and towns. The touring cast extends an invitation to locals to participate in the performance in each location.
• Established in 1993, the Moogerah Passion Play is performed every year in Queensland during the Easter season.

BAVARIA

• The Oberammergau Passion Play, which debuted in the Bavarian village of Oberammergau in 1634 and is currently played every ten years, is the principal relic of earlier times. 

ITALY

• Since 1816, the entire village of Sordevolo (Piedmont) has played The Passion of Christ in an open-air amphitheater with a seating capacity of 2,400 people every five years from June to September.

BRAZIL

• In a specially constructed theater city measuring 100,000 square meters in the dry hinterlands of Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil, The Passion of the Christ is performed annually at Easter. It is regarded as the largest outdoor theater in the entire globe.

PHILIPPINES

• Every Semana Santa (Holy Week), the primarily Catholic Philippines stage Passion Plays called Senákulo, which are named after the Upper Room. 
• Different renditions of the Senákulo are presented by theater companies and community organizations, each employing its own scripts to depict the dialogue in either lyrical or prosaic form.

Passion Plays Around The World Worksheets

This fantastic bundle includes everything you need to know about Passion Plays Around The World across 26 in-depth pages. These ready-to-use worksheets are perfect for teaching kids about Passion Plays Around the World. A religious drama illustrating the Passion of Jesus Christ—his trial, suffering, and death—is known as the Passion Play or Easter Pageant.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

1. Passion Plays Around the World Facts
2. Passion Plays
3. Decode
4. Holy Week
5. My Celebration
6. Who is HE?
7. Setting the Stage
8. Around the World
9. What’s the Meaning?
10. Memories
11. Say a Prayer

Frequently Asked Questions

What are passion plays?

Passion plays are dramatic performances that depict the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. They typically include scenes from the Last Supper, the betrayal by Judas, the trial before Pontius Pilate, the crucifixion, and the resurrection.

Where are passion plays commonly performed?

Passion plays are performed in various parts of the world, but some of the most well-known locations include Oberammergau in Germany, Sordevolo in Italy, Iztapalapa in Mexico, and Cirebon in Indonesia.

What is the significance of Oberammergau’s passion play?

The passion play in Oberammergau, Germany, is highly renowned and has a long history dating back to 1634. It originated as a vow made by the villagers to perform the play every ten years if they were spared from the bubonic plague. Today, the Oberammergau Passion Play is performed once every ten years, attracting thousands of visitors from around the world.

Are passion plays exclusive to Christianity?

Passion plays predominantly focus on the events from the Christian narrative of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. However, similar theatrical performances depicting the life and stories of other religious figures exist in different cultures and religions around the world.

What are some other notable passion plays?

Apart from Oberammergau, Sordevolo, Iztapalapa, and Cirebon, there are other notable passion plays. For example, the Wintershall Estate in England holds an annual passion play in the town of Trafalgar, depicting the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The “Play of the Holy Week” in Balmaseda, Spain, is another famous passion play that dates back to the 16th century and is performed in the streets of the town during Easter week.

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