The Greatest Story Ever Told

The Bible will be brought to life in Liverpool this month in a 90-minute live action show that takes its audience through the entire biblical narrative using visual effects and impressive scenery.

In Another Place, a Christian charity which was behind the large scale Narnia Experience in 2012, has coordinated the performance, which will involve 200 actors, 20 choirs and several community groups.

They describe the play as a "live action journey through the Bible", and it will visit well known stories such as Noah and the ark, Jonah and the whale and David and Goliath.

The team hope to engage school-aged children and young people in particular, and allow them to experience and discover the exciting side of the Bible through showing them snapshots of some of the major stories.

Artistic Director Annie Spiers said: "In Another Place is Christians and community working together inspired by our love for God and the people around us.

"We love working with a wide mix of people and helping them discover new talents and finding the strengths there are in teamwork. We aim to take Good News outside church walls.

"Less than 5 per cent of the country attend church regularly - we need to spread Good News to the other 95 per cent! Most people aren't likely to come into church even to a lovely event - we need to go where people already naturally collect together."

As part of the performance, the audience will watch the walls of Jericho collapse and a plethora of birds and animals make their way into Noah's ark.

"The Bible is a huge compilation of books. Most people have little idea of what's in it," explains Annie.

"We hope to show people who exciting some of the stories are and how incredible it was to see them achieve great things despite being a big mix of very ordinary people.

"We hope to bring the bible to life and to help people see and experience a taste of what the stories are really about."

It promises to be a real community effort, with the cast being a mix of ages, backgrounds and abilities drawn from over 30 churches and community groups across Merseyside.

In addition, over 100 of the cast have additional needs, and the live choirs have been sourced from schools and community groups across Liverpool.

"We hope that the team work between the participants and choirs will be loving, warm and inspire others as we live out how to enjoy each other's different abilities, talents and personalities," Annie says.

"We [also] hope to encourage at least a few people to find a Bible and open it to read."

The Greatest Story Ever Told is showing on 10 – 14 February at St George's Hall. For more information and tickets, go to www.inanotherplace.com