Silence loomed across the isolated dry garigue as he took his last breath and his head dropped heavily on his battered chest.

The stillness was broken only by the women weeping at his feet.

The captivated audience looked on at the last scene from the Passion of the Christ taking place in the same setting that, 5,000 years ago, had captured the imagination of the island’s inhabitants during their Neolithic rites in Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra.

The plain that lies between the temples served as the perfect backdrop for this interactive street-theatre performance. The area’s historical and natural landmarks were transformed into well-known scenes from the account of the Passion, and onlookers soon became part of the crowd which followed Jesus to his death.

The rugged garigue, where the audience was taken through the main stages of Jesus’s last hours, must have presented a similar landscape to the dry Golgotha hill outside ancient Jerusalem.

Directed by Alan Fenech, who also played Jesus, the cast included Żep Camilleri, Charles Tedesco, Anthony Ellul, Mario Micallef, Ivan Debattista, and Simone Debattista.