History Main / PassionPlay

* The "St. Matthew Passion" by Music/JohannSebastianBach is a setting of one of the [[Literature/TheFourGospels biblical accounts]] of the Passion interspersed with reflective hymns and chorales. It's generally regarded as some of the ultimate CrowningMusicOfAwesome.

These date back at least to [[OlderThanPrint the Middle Ages]]. The original purpose of the plays was simply to re-enact the Passion in drama as an extension of a Passion mass. Since most people couldn't read, Passion plays and Nativity plays were used to transmit the stories of Jesus' crucifixion and His birth to the general population.

* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': In "Season's Beatings", Stan wants to play Jesus in the mall's upcoming Passion Play like he did for several years, but he is deemed to fat for the role and is instead made a MallSanta. To add insult to injury, Roger gets chosen to play Jesus (while drunk, no less), infuriating Stan enough to beat the crap out of him.

* The ''Fanfic/EmpathTheLuckiestSmurf'' time-traveling story "Smurfed Behind: The Passion Of The Smurfs", with Judas Iscariot resembling Gargamel and having a cat similar to Azrael. Rather than hanging himself, Judas gets chased off a cliff by Puppy and is [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath pierced through by a tree]] when he chases after the Smurfs.

* In ''UltimaVII,'' one of your first encounters with the Fellowship organization is a meeting with wandering minstrels who are performing what they refer to as a PassionPlay. This is an important confirmation that [[ChurchOfHappyology the Fellowship is a religion]], not a charitable organization, [[spoiler: and lines from the play confirm the Fellowship's connection to the BigBad]].

A side note on etymology: the word ''passion'' in this case means "suffering" (from Latin ''pati'': to suffer)

* ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'' separates itself from most tellings of the Passion by [[BloodierAndGorier the sheer brutality of its visuals and the emphasis on the excruciating pain]] the Christ went through during the his execution.

* ''Film/TheLastTemptationOfChrist'': SubvertedTrope. Just as Christ is put on the Cross, an angel rescues him and lets him live a life without the burden of being the Messiah. Jesus goes on to marry Mary Magdalene and lament the fact that people like Paul of Tarsus continue to use the story of his Passion as the center of a new religion. The TwistEnding plays with the trope further. [[spoiler:The movie is a Double Subversion, because the angel Christ was the Devil wearing a disguise, who gave Christ a vision of what could be in order to tempt Christ not to fulfill his mission to save humanity from sin.]]

* ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian'' is a comedy, so it shifts focus away from the brutal execution of Christ to a more humorous character who named Brian, who was born in the manger next to Jesus's. Because of their proximity, Brian ends up being mistaken for the real Messiah and gets sentenced to crucifixion by the Romans. [[spoiler:Only for those being crucified next to Brian begin whistling and singing "Always Look On the Bright Side of Life" to cheer him up.]]

* In the mid-90s, a direct-to-video movie called ''Film/TheJudasProject'' was released, setting the story of Jesus in modern America, with modern character names. Far from a perfect product, even leaving aside the anachronism of crucifixion in modern times, this movie has the high priest character stage-managing the crucifixion, as opposed to the Gospels having the Romans carry it out.

* ''Film/TheGospelOfJohn'', which is a word-for-word recreation of the Gospel account from the Good News Translation.
* In ''Film/FearNoEvil'', a re-enactment of Jesus' final moments with His disciples leading up to His crucifixion takes place near the end of the film, in which case the participants of that re-enactment start to bleed.
* As a direct adaptation of one of the Four Gospels, ''Film/Jesus1979'' ends with an account of Jesus's crucifixion.

* ''Bones and Silence'' by Reginald Hill takes place against a background of a modern production of a Passion Play.

* The "St. Matthew Passion" by Music/JohannSebastianBach is a setting of one of the [[Literature/TheBible biblical accounts]] of the Passion interspersed with reflective hymns and chorales. It's generally regarded as some of the ultimate CrowningMusicOfAwesome.

* ''Theatre/{{Godspell}}'', a modernization of the Gospel accounts, ends with Christ being attached to an electric fence representing his cross, and giving his final words in the opening of the song "Finale."
* ''AD/BC: A Rock Opera'' would count as well, being a parody of the above two. Just from the POV of the Innkeeper.

* The religious ThemePark "The Holy Land Experience" in Orlando has one of these as a daily attraction.

* ''The Gospel Of John'', which is a word-for-word recreation of the Gospel account from the Good News Translation.

These date back at least to [[OlderThanPrint the Middle Ages]], when they were often used to incite anti-Semitic riots--though, just to be clear, this only happened ''after'' the plays were established, and tended to occur when the plays were orchestrated by rabble rousers. The original purpose of the plays was simply to re-enact the Passion in drama as an extension of a Passion mass. Since most people couldn't read, Passion plays and Nativity plays were used to transmit the stories of Jesus' crucifixion and His birth to the general population.

A re-telling of the story of [[Literature/TheFourGospels the Passion]] of UsefulNotes/JesusChrist. Can be done in public (complete with AudienceParticipation on the "Crucify Him!" bit) or as a historical recreation on screen. In Medieval England, they were also known as "Mystery Plays".

A re-telling of the story of [[Literature/TheFourGospels the Passion]] of [[UsefulNotes/JesusChrist the Christ]]. Can be done in public (complete with AudienceParticipation on the "Crucify Him!" bit) or as a historical recreation on screen. In Medieval England, they were also known as "Mystery Plays".

* ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'' separates itself from most tellings from the [[BloodierAndGorier sheer brutality of its visuals and the emphasis on the excruciating pain]] the Christ went through during the Passion.

* ''Film/TheGreatestStoryEverTold''

* ''Film/KingOfKings''

* ''Film/TheLastTemptationOfChrist''
* ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist''
* Parody version: ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian''

* ''Theatre/{{Godspell}}'' also counts, though in a much...fluffier?...way. It also ends at the Crucifixion.

* Hornchurch, a suburb of London, has one planned for Easter 2015, its fifth.

Not to be confused with the art film ''Film/PassionPlay'' or with the album by JethroTull.

* [[CaptainObvious A long-running liturgical tradition for the Catholic Church during Holy Week]], the Passion Narrative is the Gospel reading for Palm Sunday (read from one of the three synoptic gospels) and the Good Friday Service [[note:]]technically not a Mass - the period between sundown at Maundy Thursday and the Easter Vigil, called the "Paschal Triduum," is the only time of year where no priest will celebrate Mass[[/note]] (read from the Gospel of John). Complete with AudienceParticipation.