A lockdown Passion Play by Les Ellison

As day begins to break on Good Friday, the occupying Governor’s tenuous grip on authority is slipping. It’s festival time in Jerusalem but his wife is plagued with disturbing dreams. Amid the demands of the Sanhedrin and the murderous cries of the mob, the lines between personal and political in Pilate’s house start to blur. The teacher at the centre of it all remains silent.

Confused by the hopes and fears of her people, a Jewish servant in the Praetorium clearly knows more than she should. Pilate wrestles with a quandary of his own devising, while outside momentum is gathering – the power of the Capitol in tension with the will of the people.

Created during the lockdowns of early 2021, Breaking Day is a virtual passion play filmed and edited remotely which speaks right to the heart of Easter in our modern world. With start intimacy, it casts a surprising light on the death of Jesus from inside the Governor’s household, immersing us in the decisions that led to crucifixion.

You can rent Breaking Day to watch at home for a limited time through Vimeo on Demand or buy a license from us to show to more viewers at church. Our digital programme is free to download below.

You can also watch our trailer below

The People’s Passion – now available

We are very pleased to announce that next week The People’s Passion is now available to download!

A powerful piece of theatre and worship, The People’s Passion brings together a whole congregation to witness the events of Jesus’ last week. There are parts to play for groups and parts for individuals, music to underscore the text and moments of reflection. Riding Lights provides the script, you provide the cast.

This is an instant passion play which any church can create, bringing people together to tell the Easter story, with just a little preparation and no rehearsal.

The resources include:

Organisers Handbook with full instructions for creating the event
Full script & licence to perform The People’s Passion
Powerpoint slides of the script
Music underscore
Artwork for publicity

The People’s Passion will also soon be available as a hard copy, including a printed guide and memory stick that holds all of the digital resources. The download costs £40. The hard copy version will incur a charge for postage and packing.

The People’s Passion is a great way to gather your community together for a unique experience of the Easter story. Riding Lights has performed The People’s Passion at our annual Summer Theatre School, at Spring Harvest, and with a smaller group of about 20 people at Friargate Theatre. It works equally well with different numbers of people.

You can find out more at ridinglights.org/peoples-passion.