On Stage: The Asian Bible
Officials said that the Jesus in My Saviour will be an Asian with black eyes and black hair.
Adding yet another feather to the cap of Soorya Krishnamoorthy, India’s largest Bible stage show My Saviour is being planned with a huge cast, including trained animals, and a set transported on 20 trucks.
Thiruvananthapuram is all set to bring back the Asian Jesus Christ who was hijacked by Western artists, by staging India’s largest Bible stage show.
Apart from around 200 artistes, trained sheep and camels will be part of My Saviour, the Bible show that will be staged at 100 locations worldwide in the next five years. The birth and life of Jesus Christ until resurrection will be portrayed in the show.
For their first show, light and sound show pioneer Soorya Krishnamoorthy has set up a portable stage on 20 cents of land at Salvation Army School, Thiruvananthapuram.
“Such is the vastness of the show that the set alone will have to be transported on 20 trucks and re-assembled at other venues. Our artistes are sacrificing several things for the show and they will perform for free. The actor who portrays Jesus Christ — Pratheesh — has been eating only once a day to expose his ribs for playing the crucifixion part,” reveals Krishnamoorthy.
Officials said that the Jesus in My Saviour will be an Asian with black eyes and black hair.
“Normally, Jesus Christ is portrayed blonde-haired and that cannot be true considering he was an Asian. Rather than showing the magical elements of miracles that he performed, the relevance of these miracles in our day-to-day life will be portrayed,” he added.
Around Rs 1 crore has been collected from 20 sponsors for the stage show. “Almost all sponsors and artistes are not from the Christian community; they hail from India and Middle East,” said Thiruvananthapuram Archbishop M. Susaipakiyam.
Sargakshethra of Changanaserry and Mar Chrysostom World Peace Foundation are collaborating with Soorya Foundation for the programme. The show will be staged in Changanassery and Mavelikkara in February, in Kottayam and Ernakulam in March, and in Angamali and Thrissur in April.