This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:
Tuneful twist to the Easter tale
People flocking to the city centre yesterday to watch the story of Jesus's crucifixion were surprised to see less suffering and more singing.
This year's Christ in the Centre saw a 40-strong cast, in brightly-coloured robes, give two performances of a play written by children's author Meg Harper.
The show ended with gospel singing instead of the agonising death of Christ on the cross.
Afterwards, many said they preferred the more child-friendly version, while others missed the more realistic drama from previous years.
Clive Watts, 43, of Leicester Forest East, said: "It was very different to previous years and not what I expected, but I think it told the story and told it well."
Jill Carr, 49, of Evington, said: "The question is whether it's missing its central message. The death of Jesus was always done in a shocking way and now it's Jesus in a bright red robe."
Another woman, who did not want to be named, said: "It was more child-friendly – my 13-year-old daughter didn't want to come because it profoundly affected her seeing the violence last year.
"But it's now a bit short and less gripping."
Tim and Jen Stratford, of Leicester city centre, were attending for the first time and enjoyed it. Jen said: "They made it so alive and compelling and I think it would appeal to everyone."
Tim said: "My feet are very cold, but I was impressed – it's great that they tell the story so clearly and well in the middle of the city centre like this and the number of people here is pretty good."
Sylvia Richardson, of Rothley, said: "It was brilliant. The lovely singing was fantastic. It's very nice to see Leicester celebrating a Christian festival."
Marion Seaman, 73, who lives near Market Harborough, said: "I loved the strong characters, especially Jesus and Judas – there was no namby-pamby acting."
Event trustee Jonathan Wheeler said about 6,000 people had attended the morning show and that the reaction had been good.He said: "We were doing something different and it went really well.
"We had a good number of people and the initial reaction was very good."
The event cost about £43,000 to stage and the organisers were about £8,000 short at the beginning of this month.
Bucket collections took place during the event to raise funds to keep it going in future years.
Mr Wheeler said: "We have our collections during the event and there is also a form on the programme for people to send in donations.
"We are very near the finishing line for this year but we need to make it more of a year-round fund-raising thing.
This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:
Twist in reenactment's tale
Next year's powerful reenactment of the crucifixion of Jesus in the city centre promises to tell the Easter story in a different way to previous years.
The Christ in the Centre event, held each year on Good Friday, will be given a new twist by children's author Meg Harper.
It will be based on her play, The First Easter, which has been performed in both the UK and US.
She has joined the event's producers and is writing fresh scenes to extend the original script, which will premiere at the event in Easter 2013.
It is also the first year the play will be staged twice in one day.
Rev Stephen Foster, Anglican chaplain to Leicester University, and joint chairman of the event's organising committee, said: "One of the strengths of performing this in the heart of Leicester's shopping area is the opportunity to bring the true Easter message to a much wider audience than we have done before.
"We hope holding the second performance in the afternoon will increase the effectiveness of this outreach."
The event's organisers are also asking anyone who would like to be part of this year's religious reenactment to attend one of the two casting workshops being held in December.
Casting workshops will take place tomorrow and on Saturday, December 8, at St Andrew's Community Hall, in Jarrom Street, Leicester.
Both workshop sessions begin at 11am.
The Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Rev Tim Stevens, welcomed thousands of people to last year's event, which cost £40,000 to stage.
Hoards of spectators packed out Humberstone Gate and joined in prayer before watching the traditional Bible story unfold – with some audience members being brought to tears by the powerful narrative.
The play's new artistic director, Sarah Chiswell-Hornett, creative projects producer at The Castle Theatre, in Wellingborough, has been tasked with recreating the passionate atmosphere of the event.
She said: "We want the event to be a community-based telling of the Easter story, using a combination of theatre and music, which will bring people together in the heart of Leicester."
The play's writer Meg Harper has previously penned scripts for similar events in Warwick, where her story The Day They Killed The Son of God was performed on Good Friday in 2007.
This year's performance of The First Easter will take place in Humberstone Gate, at 10.30am and 2pm.
