(RNS) — Passion plays originated in the Middle Ages in Christian Europe as a way to celebrate and teach the story of the last days of Jesus’ life and from the beginning embodied the anti-Judaism ...

OBERAMMERGAU, Germany — Almost 400 years ago, the Catholic residents of a small Bavarian village vowed to perform a play of "the suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ" every 10 ...

Actor Frederik Mayet portrays Christ at the 2010 Passion Play Theater in Oberammergau, Germany. Mayet has been chosen as one of two actors to portray Jesus this year. The 2022 performance runs May ...

Jews who have seen the Oberammergau Passion Play, which depicts Jesus’ last days and historically has inspired anti-Semitic violence, say this year’s version is not as bad as in decades past, but it’s ...

OBERAMMERGAU, Germany — “I shout: ‘Jesus is innocent! Set him free!'” Roswitha Stückl exclaimed in a loud voice, while grinning at her husband, Peter, who plays the Annas, the high priest.

The preacher’s weekly challenge—What story shall I tell?—is perhaps less challenging in Holy Week than at any other time except Christmas. The Passion story provides characters, plot, dynamics, and ...

After a two-year pandemic delay, villagers in the German town of Oberammergau are once again re-enacting the story of Jesus’s life and death, with some changes. Frederik Mayet as Jesus on the cross in ...

The stage for the Oberammergau Passion Play, which is returning in 2022. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Tauck The epic Oberammergau Passion Play is set to return to the stage in the German village where it ...