To find out how to put on a Mark Drama production, read through our step-by-step guide for putting on a production. But if you still have questions, you might find the answer listed here. If not, shoot us an email.

Are you sure that the team will be able to memorise the order of all the events in Mark?

Yes. Of course it takes discipline, but they do have The Mark Experiment to help them and they have 6 weeks in which to learn the six sections. If team members spend 10 minutes a day learning the structure of Mark’s gospel, then it is absolutely doable.

The schedule suggests there is only 12 hours’ rehearsal time. Are you sure that this is enough? Shouldn’t we start rehearsing earlier?

12 hours is enough. The short time ensures that the team is focused and concentrates really hard.

There are two reasons for having the rehearsals very close to the performances:

  • First, it means that the director does not have to make multiple visits to work with the team.
  • Secondly, when the team comes to perform, what they have learnt in the rehearsals is still very fresh in their minds.

Important: Please do not begin rehearsals without the trained director. This only confuses the process.

Can we do the performances a week apart?

This is not a good idea! Because the rehearsal time has been so compact, it is risky to have too much of a time gap between the last rehearsal and either of the performances.

What if we don’t have a room where we can rearrange the chairs for theatre-in-the-round?

Because theatre-in-the-round* is essential for The Mark Drama, you will have to find a venue where you can do this. Perhaps consider a town hall or community centre. Unfortunately there is no other way around this. The Mark Drama only works as theatre-in-the-round.

*Theatre-in-the-round: Instead of a normal elevated stage set at a distance to the audience, the Mark Drama is theatre-in-the-round, with the stage at the centre of the audience. Chairs are arranged in concentric circles with three aisles stretching out from the centre, along which actors move and perform.

Do the rehearsals have to be in the same room as the performances?

No, not necessarily, but this is certainly a great advantage to the acting team.

Your website says that the cast don’t wear costumes. What do they wear?

Jeans or trousers and a plain t-shirt. Every team member chooses what colour t-shirt they will bring to wear in the performances.

What happens in a performance if a cast member forgets what to say or what happens next?

The director will be sitting in the second row (very close to the centre circle) and acting as prompter. Because he is so close to the action he can prompt without most of the audience realising what he is doing.

What is all this going to cost?

We do not charge churches or Christian groups for The Mark Drama. All our directors generously donate their time and efforts, but we hope you will pay their travel expenses (normally one return-trip for the rehearsal-performance weekend).

It typically costs us between $300 to $500 to put on a Mark Drama production, especially if the director needs to come from interstate.

We will be very grateful if you are able to give a donation to Mark Drama Australia on top of this, to help cover our costs. These costs include training weekends, and the production of materials. We also hope to setup a Subsidy Fund so that we can subsidise churches, student groups and Christian organisations who would otherwise struggle to put on a production.

This sounds like the ideal thing to do in the run-up to Easter. Are we right?

Yes, but please be careful! We would struggle to provide directors for everyone if a lot of groups put on their production just before Easter. We’ve found the drama to be just as powerful at any time of year: the gospel is always relevant!

We don’t have enough actors from our church or Christian group to make a team. What do we do?

This doesn’t have to put a stop to your plans. Why not consider teaming up with another church or Christian group from your area? If you think we could help with finding another group nearby, please email us.

I have another question you haven’t addressed on this page.

We’ll be happy to answer your question. Just send us an email.