Celebrating Jesus

Celebrating Jesus by Denis O'Gorman;Barry Hart was published by Kevin Mayhew in June 2002 and is our 27380th best seller. The ISBN for Celebrating Jesus is 9781840039115.

Celebrating Jesus is a joyful presentation of the life of Christ and God's plan of salvation - from Creation and the Fall to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Commissioned for performance in Westminster Cathedral as part of the millennium celebrations, the work is structured in eight self-contained scenes. Celebrating Jesus is a flexible production suitable for presentation by a single school or by a number of different schools.

The dialogue is uncomplicated and very concise and the songs are largely up-tempo, allowing clear projection of both speech and music.

In keeping with the play's straight­forward style, costuming and props would also gain from a simple approach. Apart from designated characters, all the children could wear white tops. Different colours could be used to represent spe­cific groups. Jesus appears in more than one scene and may therefore be played by different children. He will be readily identified by wearing a colour worn by no other child in the play.

Rather than manufacture elaborate props, swathes of coloured cloth and scarves would be simple and very effective. Multi-coloured materials would make for a vivid Creation scene, and the River Jordan and the palms could also be simply represented in a similar fashion.

The presentation of Celebrating Jesus should be fast-moving and exuberant. The keynote of the production is for the children to respond with enjoyment and fun, joyfully celebrating our Lord Jesus Christ.