Mad for the Messiah ... Tim Booth (Judas), Darren Morfitt (Jesus) and Nicholas Bailey (Peter) in Manchester Passion. Photograph: Ian Derry/BBC
Jesus can't be late for his crucifixion, so Greater Manchester Police have put a van aside to whisk the Son of God from the Garden of Gethsemane to Golgotha in case he falls behind schedule, writes Riazat Butt.
"We can't have Jesus waiting for a taxi because he might get stuck in traffic," says Phil Chilvers, director of Manchester Passion, "and he can't leg it because he'll be out of breath and we don't want that because he needs to burst into song."
It's a very modern dilemma for a very modern Passion play, probably the only one this Easter that will show Christ having his Last Supper from a burger van parked outside a shopping centre and Judas as a hoodie. Manchester Passion, broadcast live tonight on BBC Three at 9pm, retells the last hours of Jesus' life using the words of the Bible and music from the city's most popular bands.
It's an ambitious project and involves acting, singing, a 16-piece orchestra, buskers, fireworks, a choir, a support act, a half-ton, eight-metre neon cross, 200 people and police outriders escorting the cross to its final destination, riot gear, multiple locations, a live audience of thousands, giant screens, satellite feeds, love, death and resurrection.
Executive producer Sue Judd describes the hour-long event as "part story-telling, part theatre and part musical." Watching the dress rehearsal last night onlookers might also call it part-panto and part-karaoke as there are plenty of opportunities for shouting, booing and singing.
Judd says, "Music and singing are at the heart of this production. Manchester has a rich musical heritage and once we decided to set it here we knew we had plenty of songs to choose from."
It is the choice of music - Morrissey and Joy Division for example - that has raised the most eyebrows. Yet what could easily be the biggest blunder of Manchester Passion is its greatest strength. Phillip Sheppard, professor of cello at the Royal Academy of Music, has taken Manchester anthems - including New Order's Blue Monday and James' Sit Down - and given them classical arrangements. The result is a soundtrack that is odd, moving, and somehow fitting.
And if Manchester is famous for its music, it is infamous for its weather. However, Judd is unperturbed by the strong winds and blustery showers that have been battering the city this week.
A look at the weather forecast reveals that tonight will be dry and fine. Behold, the power of the licence fee.
