Twitter resurrects Easter story with live passion play
The Easter story is being brought to life for the Twittering classes in a passion play for the 21st Century.
The final week of Jesus' life will be chronicled in 140-character bites in the Easter (LIVE) passion play, starting on Palm Sunday on Twitter and facebook.
The story will be told in real time throughout Holy Week, from the perspective of a number of people who were in Jerusalem that fateful Passover week to witness the last days before Jesus' execution.
Centurions, members of the Jewish high court, pilgrims and followers of Jesus alike, the characters will tweet their experiences through the week as they see the man they love or loathe being put to death.
The play can be followed on the Easter (LIVE) twitter feed as if events are unfolding in 2010, bringing an immediacy and accessibility to one of the most influential stories of our culture.
The characters also have their own facebook profiles, and will post onto the Easter (LIVE) facebook group. Followers can interact with the play on Twitter by retweeting or discussing it at #EasterLIVE, or on Facebook by responding to the wall posts.
The story is mainly seen through the eyes of fringe characters to give it fresh perspective and to help followers identify easily with their experiences. Each character has been developed by a different member of the public - with and without a faith - who can identify with their ancient counterpart.
From Reverend Professor Nicholas Sagovsky, Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey, who plays a member of the Jewish High Court, to security guard and stand-up comic Liam Smith, who plays a centurion, they each bring their unique perspective to the story.
Andrew Horton, CEO of multimedia production service Worldview Media and creative director of the play, said: "Easter is a powerful story of scandal, betrayal, torture and hope that has captivated people for centuries, but with less people going to church, it is no longer one of the best-known stories of our culture.
"Social media provides a wonderful opportunity to re-introduce people to the thrilling tale hiding behind the chocolate, the bunnies and the telly."
Easter (LIVE) is an initiative of Cliff College, Share Creative and the Evangelical Alliance as part of the Biblefresh movement of churches and agencies, which seeks to help people engage with the Bible.
To find out more and link to the Twitter and facebook pages, go to www.eauk.org/EasterLIVE, which also features a feed of the play for people who are not on facebook or Twitter