Manchester Passion
The Manchester Passion could have offended Christian and indie music lover alike. Taking the traditional tale, and adding Manchester's music, could have been a recipe for disaster: it wasn't - the show, broadcast live on BBC Three, was a triumph.
A strong cast, great production, excellent photography and an excited audience all had their place in the play.
The music, cherry-picked from some of the greatest artists of the last thirty years, was - of course - the highlight. Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart, gypsy style; I Am The Resurrection by The Stone Roses and New Order's Blue Monday all added meaning to the narrative. Interestingly, the narrative also added a new interpretation to the lyrics: it will be hard to listen to these songs again without remembering the spiritual twist they've been given.
Some songs were made for the performance. Sit Down by James, with a folk backing and a Salvation Army brass section, could have been written for Christ (powerfully played by Darren Morfitt) to sing.
Wonderwall, performed as a duet between Christ and Pontius Pilate (Keith Allen), added depth to both characters. The lines 'Maybe/ You're gonna be the one to save me' showed how both parties wanted something from their doomed relationship.
Love Will Tear Us Apart, broken up with speech from Christ, was the perfect soundtrack to the last supper. It showed Christ's fears and insecurities.
And Blue Monday, performed as a duet by Christ and Judas Iscariot (interestingly played by James frontman Tim Booth), showed Christ's angrier, more radical side much better than the 'Christ today would be a terrorist' sub-plot.
Meanwhile Primal Scream's Denise Johnson (as Mary) used more pop tunes like M People's Search For A Hero and Robbie Williams' Angels to add flesh to the narrative.
Glimpses of the mechanics of broadcast (the outside broadcast trucks in the background, and the use of incidental songs like Voodoo Ray, Pacific State and Ever Fallen In Love With Someone to cover movement) only added to the sense that, broadcast live, this was an event, and not just another show in the Friday night schedule.
"Jesus loves the freaks and the weirdos," one participant said "and he'd be right in the centre of the moshpit checking the bands out."
The crowd's sheer exultation at Christ's resurrection (with, of course, that Stone Roses song as a soundtrack) proved that Chritianity has never looked so cool. And that while the Devil has all the best tunes, Christians don't mind borrowing them occasionally.