The Mark Drama coming to Japan!

Imagine being in the crowd as Jesus is sentenced to death by crucifixion. You have a sense that Jesus is innocent but there’s been so much turmoil, you aren’t sure anymore. Solitary voices in the crowd begin to cry, “Crucify him!” Soon more voices join, until the cries become a din. Suddenly you’re part of an angry mob calling for Jesus’ death on a cross.

Now, sitting on your sofa reading Japan Harvest, around 2000 years distant, you might feel far removed from these events. But the spiritual reality is that we are all responsible for Jesus’ death. We might as well have been part of that crowd.

This reality was brought home vividly to an attendee of The Mark Drama. As the actors portraying Jesus and his accusers stood in the centre with the audience on all sides, the remaining actors behind began calling out, “Crucify him!” Audience members began to feel that they were part of the crowd, being struck by the idea that spiritually, they were indeed part of that crowd. Such is the power of this production.

An immersive experience

The Mark Drama is a 90-minute theatrical retelling of Mark’s gospel. It is performed in the round, so the action takes place in front of, amongst, and behind the audience. The audience is invited to become part of “the crowd”, which despite being initially drawn to Jesus, remains fickle and eventually turns against him.

The Mark Drama is a powerful production because Mark’s gospel is a strong, dynamic story depicting Jesus’ life. Those who witness it are attracted or repelled; ambivalence is not an option.

But experiencing Mark’s gospel through the drama is a uniquely personal experience. We aren’t encountering theories, ideas, or allegiances—we are meeting a person. We are reminded that Jesus is a person with a body. He walked here; he lived, laughed, loved, and grieved in a body on this earth. As the actors move among the audience members, we’re reminded that Jesus moved among the crowd. And as the audience laughs or cringes in response to Jesus, we are reminded that we, too, must respond to Jesus.

The movement

It’s a joy to be able to share with you that as of October 11, 2025, the Mark Drama Japan movement has begun (photos below of the first performance).¹ Starting more than 10 years ago, the dream of this movement in Japan was being planted in different hearts amongst gospel workers in Australia and some began to pray. In late 2024, God brought people together who committed to pray for Mark Drama Japan, and a steering committee was formed. The first information session was held in January 2025. God brought interested people together, and as we memorized the structure of chapters from Mark and improvised a scene together, we all began to get a sense of how the drama could actually come together. We were excited to see how the scene improvised in Japanese took on a local flavour, which was surprising and delightful. Excitement was building.

God provided a venue at Grace City Church, Tokyo, a newly renovated space that could welcome an audience of 110 people. We soon found a bilingual director with experience and a passion for Japanese people to know Jesus. Finally, we prayed fervently for 15 committed actors. Could Japanese people really commit to something they had never seen done, with no history in Japan? For a while, it seemed we were losing people as quickly as we were gaining them.

But one of the joys of living the Christian life is seeing God build your trust in him over time. If you’ve prayed “impossible prayers” before and seen God answer them, you can end up with a quiet certainty that he will answer once again. Many were praying for those 15 actors, and one by one, God has provided them.

At the time of writing, preparations were underway for the first performance in Japan. The Jesus actor was memorizing his lines directly from Scripture. The rest of the cast were reading deeply and memorizing the events of Mark’s gospel. One cast member even created an online game and a rap to help us memorize!

Praying for impact

It’s too early to say how God will use The Mark Drama, but here are the hopes of the steering committee: Makito would love to see one non-Christian attend with every Christian who comes. He wants to see them respond in faith. Misato wants to see actors realising with joy that improvising the events of Mark’s gospel is not only doable but reproducible. “I want to do this in my church, in my school,” they’ll say. She pictures a time when there is a Mark Drama going on in Japan every few months, just like in the UK or Australia.

Rohan says he wants the actors to come to appreciate the Gospel of Mark, to experience Jesus’ life as a whole, to feel with Peter the relief of being forgiven by Jesus, Pilate’s angst at Jesus’ innocence, to be struck by Jesus’ power to heal. Rohan also wants the audience to get a new taste for Jesus. He prays that they will read the Bible, join a church, and be saved.

I want to see God working through his Word, producing authentic responses to Jesus. It is a powerful encouragement for Christians that God does indeed work through his Word as it lives in our hearts and comes out our mouths. The Word has a place in our day-to-day interactions with those who don’t know Jesus yet.

Looking ahead, we want to see actors from this first performance begin to be trained as directors. We want to create a website so that information about the drama, about performances, and the process of putting on the production is easily accessible to folks in churches around Japan. We need financial support to cover travel costs for directors, venue hire, website development, and maintenance. It is not expensive to put on, participants volunteer their time, and the performance is free to attendees, but covering start-up costs will help lay the foundation for Mark Drama Japan (マルコドラマ ジャパン) to become a movement, not just a single performance.

If you’re reading this and want to help, to receive updates, or to contribute in some way, please get in touch at info@markdramajapan.com. Please pray with us that Mark Drama Japan will impact Japanese people and bring many to Christ.

1. Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/markdramajapan (accessed October 28, 2025).
Photos submitted by author