Easter Play will be performed in Princes Street on Saturday

Edinburgh’s open-air Easter Play returns to Princes Street Gardens this year with a fresh take on the story which brings it right up to the present day.

This year’s Easter Play, ‘Hope Rises’, which will be performed on Saturday 16 April at 2pm, imagines the cast as a group of refugees who arrive in a foreign city with a story to tell. Although it was in development before the invasion of Ukraine, the play has taken on poignant new resonances in light of this new refugee crisis. The Easter Play team is encouraging donations to help Ukraine, as well as to local charities, through a special ‘Giving Tree’.

The Edinburgh Easter Play 2022: Hope Rises will be performed live in West Princes Street Gardens on Saturday 16th April (Easter Saturday) at 2pm. The performance is free and unticketed. ‘Hope Rises’ will also be livestreamed on www.easterplay.org

Director Suzanne Lofthusfrom Cutting Edge Theatre said: “The actors are a group of displaced people who have fled their homes in another country. They have nothing except what they can carry — the one thing they have is their stories.
“‘Hope Rises’, is a fast-paced production, telling the Easter story in a modern and vibrant manner. Set against the backdrop of the refugee crises, the story is as relevant now as it has ever been.
“We were developing the play before the invasion of Ukraine, but it took on powerful new resonances when we saw the pictures of thousands of people fleeing their homes.”
The play is the first Easter Play to be performed in Edinburgh since 2018, following two years of Covid-19 cancellations. The production will also be livestreamed around the world on www.easterplay.org

Lofthus said: “We are delighted to be back performing in Princes Street Gardens. Ours will be one of the first live events in the Gardens after restrictions were lifted, so it really does feel like hope returning.”

The Edinburgh Easter Play is staged by the Princes Street Easter Play Trust, and is co-produced by Cutting Edge Theatre. People of all faiths and none come together from all over the city to make the play happen, from the cast and technical crew to the stewards and catering team. Since the first production in 2005, the play has told the Easter Story — in a new version each year — in one of the most iconic locations in the UK, with the backdrop of Edinburgh Castle. Past productions have ranged from traditional Passion Plays in full costume to innovative retellings of the story set in the contemporary world.