Riding Lights: Inheritance

With Lent now underway, Easter isn't far behind. This year Riding Lights Theatre Company are marking Jesus' death and resurrection with a brand new passion play, Inheritance, which begins touring the UK on March 13th.

Passion plays are part of a long-standing European tradition of presenting Biblical stories in everyday language for audiences who may not be familiar with the ins and outs of scripture. The practice dates back to the Middle Ages, and probably arose from the fact that relatively few people could read Latin, the only language in which the Bible was permitted to be written and read from.

Riding Lights have had an affinity with this brand of theological theatre since their inception. Two years ago, they were closely involved in the York Mystery Plays, a hugely ambitious revival of one particular cycle, performed in York Museum Gardens throughout August 2012. Inheritance is a kindred spirit of these stories, but it comes with a novel twist: it focusses on the women associated with Jesus in the run-up to his crucifixion.

There's been a lot of discussion in recent times about the depiction of women in the Bible and the roles that they serve in the story of Jesus. Women were often marginalised within the society in which Jesus lived, and so much of the Christian story is about showing compassion to those on whom society has turned its back. So it's only fitting that a new retelling of the Passion story would seek to reevaluate the role that women played, and Riding Lights are just the people to do this. Check out the trailer:

Inheritance is touring the UK from Thursday March 13th to Saturday April 19th, the day before Easter itself. Click here for all the touring dates, and for information on how to book tickets, or call the Riding Lights box office on (01904) 665317. Happy Easter!

Daniel