The Hornchurch Passion Play

The Hornchurch Passion Play takes place on the green, next to the Queen's Theatre.  There is free parking in the next door Sainsbury's Car Park.  We left home in time to arrive a little after 6pm.  We got there and found that was a little too early.  That gave us the opportunity to get some chips at the local Fish and Chips shop - just six minutes walk away.

When we arrived it was still daylight, we could see all the sets scattered around the edge of the green.  I took a 360º video of the scene from roughly the centre of the green.  You can see that below.

The performance starts with a greeting to the Passover festival by the Priests - emphasising the need for security and the good behaviour of the attendees.    

The scenes are a mixture of the up to date and the first century - but mostly the first century.  The dialogue is taken from the biblical accounts with a lot of additional imagined material to explain what is going on to an uninitiated audience.

I described the dialogue as "The Passion meets Peckam". (A reference to Only fools and Horses).  That is not a negative criticism, it is the feeling I get from the dialogue, simple, familiar and easy to access.  The drama that results is powerful and made me think about who Jesus is as a person, and obviously why He would go through such a situation.

A brilliant addition to our usual Easter activities.