Perhaps the most famous production is the one held in Oberammergau, a German town of just over 5,000 residents in Bavaria, where the amateur cast reenacts every 10 years the last days of Jesus in a lavish production that rivals many high-budget pieces. In the U.S., the St. John’s Passion Play in Cincinnati, billed as the “oldest continuing Passion Play in the U.S.,” has been going strong since 1918. In New York, Communion and Liberation will lead The Way of the Cross, a Via Crucis over the Brooklyn Bridge for the 30th year, spokesman Domenic Canale said. In the same vein but not strictly a Passion Play, the striking procession over one of Gotham’s quintessential landmarks is set to start at 10 a.m. on Good Friday. Whatever the form, the intent’s the same: to immerse oneself in remembrance of Christ’s Passion.
