Mark Drama

No props. No costumes. No professionals. Every incident in Mark's Gospel in 90 minutes.

Andrew Page tells us about his brainchild, the Mark Drama, which gets student groups and churches acting out the gospel.

EN: Tell us how you came to see drama as a vehicle for the gospel.

AP: I believe with all my heart that what the Holy Spirit uses more than anything else to change lives is the word of God. So I am convinced that the Bible needs to be used and taught in every aspect of church life. And that is one reason why I am excited about the Mark Drama.

But being excited by drama surprises me. I have not had good experiences with drama. I have been to Christian drama and spent the whole evening thanking God that the friends I had invited had not come!

I directed the first production of the Mark Drama in Austria in 2004. Since then there have been performances in Germany, France, Spain, Latvia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Ireland and the UK. There are trained Mark Drama directors in all those countries who are equipped to help a team of 15 Christians from a local church or a student Christian Union perform every incident in Mark’s Gospel, not on stage at the front but as theatre-in-the-round.

EN: So why are you excited about the Mark Drama?

AP: First, there is power in the word of God. During the performance the audience hear almost every word Jesus is recorded as saying in Mark’s Gospel. And I am always struck by how people listen.

Secondly, there is power in this story. During the incidents in the first half of the Gospel we hear Jesus teaching with authority and effortlessly doing miracles which point to his compassion and his identity. Then, after the disciples recognise that he is the Messiah, Jesus tells them that in Jerusalem he is going to suffer and die.

And that is exactly what happens: towards the end of the Mark Drama we witness the Last Supper, Jesus praying in Gethsemane and being arrested there, the trials before the high priest and before Pilate, and then the crucifixion itself. And, of course, this story is utterly gripping: it is the most important story that could ever be told.

Thirdly, it is easy to invite people to the Mark Drama. There are many people who are not yet ready to come to a guest service or to read a gospel with a Christian friend, but who will come to a drama. That makes it worthwhile on its own, but of course it is also a great lead-in event for Christianity Explored.

EN: How can a church or Christian Union put on the Mark Drama?

AP: The first thing is to arrange an Information Evening for anyone who may be interested in joining the acting team. This needs to take place around two months before your hoped-for performance date, and will be led by a trained Mark Drama director.

After the Information Evening you will know if you have your team of eight men and seven women, and the director may even have spotted someone who might be asked to take on the role of Jesus. If you have your team and your Jesus actor, the preparations can begin.

The team then have six weeks to learn the order of the events in Mark’s Gospel, which is not difficult if they use the book The Mark Experiment. The Jesus actor, of course, has much more learning to do.

The director arrives for the first rehearsal just a few days before the performance. If the performance is on Saturday evening, the rehearsals are on Thursday evening, Friday evening and on Saturday from 9.00am-3.45pm. If that sounds like too little rehearsal time, ask someone who has been involved in a Mark Drama acting team!

EN: How would you say God has used the Mark Drama?

There are three groups of people it has an impact on.

First, of course, the actors, who experience the Gospel in such an immediate way.

Secondly, there are all the other believers in the church or Christian Union. They are not looking at one incident divorced from its context, they are seeing the whole story as it is told by Mark. For many Christians, watching the Mark Drama is a new experience of the word of God and so a new encounter with Jesus Christ, their saviour.

And, thirdly, there are the guests who have been invited to the performance. Time and again I have heard of people saying things like ‘I felt so close to the action’ or ‘I felt like I was there’. Many want to take a copy of Mark’s Gospel home with them.

Today, while I was writing this, the Jesus actor I worked with over this past weekend wrote to me to say that being in the Mark Drama was ‘one of the most moving, worthwhile, fulfilling and enjoyable things I’ve ever done’.

I can say the same myself, and I long for many others to have the same experience.

Andrew Page lived in Austria for 20 years as a mission partner of Above Bar Church, Southampton. He is now back home, based in his home church, and working full-time to spread Mark Drama in the UK and around the world. His book The Mark Experiment is available from http://www.10ofthose.com and from http://www.amazon.co.uk

There is more information about the Mark Drama at http://www.themarkdrama.com

EN: Tell us how you came to see drama as a vehicle for the gospel.

EN: So why are you excited about the Mark Drama?

EN: How can a church or Christian Union put on the Mark Drama?

EN: How would you say God has used the Mark Drama?

Main Articles

Other articles