GOSPEL STORY DRAMATISED

New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 788, 27 August 1954, Page 25

GOSPEL STORY DRAMATISED

ECAUSE of the difficulty of translation into another medium, the New Testament story of Jesus of Nazareth has rarely been broadcast in dramatic form -the one notable occasion being the BBC production of The Man Born to be King, written by Dorothy Sayers. But soon, in The Prince of Peace, listeners will hear a dramatised version of the story from Australia. Produced by 3DB Productions, Melbourne, in collaboration with Church of England, Roman Catholic and Nonconformist representatives, The Prince of Peace is described as "a dramatic programme in 52 half-hour episodes, based on the life and teaching of Our Lord Jesus Christ as told in the four Gospels and embellished by the common tradition of Western Christianity." Each of the episodes is complete in itself, and the whole series presents the life of Christ from His birth to His resurrection. Each episode has, as narrator, an eyewitness who is "a feasible character from. one or other of the social groups of polyglot Graeco-Roman Judaea." This convention was adopted to provide a bridge over the many gaps in the Gospel narrative, and at the same time to create a reasonably accurate impression of the teeming life of Judaea at the beginning of the Christian era. After much discussion among the producers and the religious committee, it was decided to find an unknown player to portray the voice of Christ, and to ensure that the player chosen should not only lend dramatic dignity to the part, but should be above reproach in his personal life. It was agreed that this artist, in common with the other players, should remain unnamed. The scripts have been written in strict accordance with the four synoptic Gospels and conform in interpretation and presentation with the basic belief of all Christian bodies. The words of Christ, except for a few modernisations and the addition of unessential phrases like greetings and farewells, faithfully follow the texts, though here and there >

a break with their strict chronological order has been permitted to help dramatic construction. Special theme music for the programme was written by the Rev. Dr. Percy Jones, and recorded by the augmented Cathedral choir of Melbourne. The Prince of Peace will be broadcast by all ZB stations at 4.30 p.m. on Sundays, beginning on September 5.