Oberammergau, Germany

Passion Play: Back in 1633, reeling from the plague, residents of the Bavarian town of Oberammergau hoped an extravagant gesture of faith might improve their standing in God's eyes. They vowed to dramatize Christ's Passion—the story of his suffering, crucifixion and resurrection—every 10 years in perpetuity. You can almost hear the village cynic scoffing: "Ha! In this fast-paced age of heretic astronomers and reckless explorers, tradition doesn't stand a chance—I give it 30 years tops." Yet, 377 years later, the nearly uninterrupted chain of Oberammergau Passion Plays gets its 41st link.

Of course, a few things have changed since the original cast delivered its lines skyward. For one thing, the performance—for the third time in a row helmed by professional director Christian Stückl—runs for more than four months. Half a million people will come from all over to see it, signing up for a package tour with the assistance of a polished website that includes a video of last decade's event along with FAQs like how to hire a local babysitter and who will publish the commemorative photo book. The leading duo playing Jesus and Mary—who earn their living in real life as a psychologist and flight attendant—have just completed a major North American media tour, including a stop at an L.A. megachurch.

On the other hand, some things haven't changed: All of the actors are Oberammergau residents of at least 20 years standing. And the plot, naturally, hasn't strayed much from the original. Granted, Stückl and collaborator Otto Huber have made some 21st-century revisions to the script, including clarifying the political conditions surrounding Jesus's arrest, developing the character of Pontius Pilate and weeding out anti-Semitic references in consultation with rabbis from the Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee. Twenty years ago, Page R. Laws detailed in the pages of this magazine the many charges of commercialism that the increasingly slick event had attracted. Yet, she noted, "In the midst of all this mercantilism, a miracle can occur for the pious as well as the merely curious. For the play itself slowly overcomes one's scruples about human greed...retaining a purity and clarity of didactic purpose. What one sees is a familiar but still-compelling story of human guile, guilt and, finally, inexplicable grace." (May 15-Oct. 3; www.passionplayoberammergau.com)

Moscow, Russia

St. Mystery International Christian Theatre Festival: Levitikon Theatre, the performance department of Moscow's evangelical Word of Life Bible Center, wants to restore theatre to its rightful place in Christianity, and vice versa. More than 20 companies from Russia and abroad, most affiliated with churches of various denominations (with a few secular companies included at the organizers' discretion) will present plays and musicals about the life of Jesus, as well as the modern challenges of living a Christian life. The participants in 2010 include a St. Petersburg children's theatre featuring actors with Down syndrome and an Orthodox theatre from Yaroslavl that will produce a play written by a monk. All performances are gratis for spectators. The convening also includes a roundtable discussion of the mission of Christian theatre. (April 28-May 1; (7) 495-223-30-35; www.levitikon.ru)

Skopje, Macedonia

Faces without Masks: This is the third year that this festival, organized by Skopje's Youth Cultural Center and Theatre 007, throws its doors open to international participants. When it started out 12 years ago it consisted only of Skopje companies, but thanks to Theatre 007's growing international résumé, it soon expanded to encompass the whole country and then the world. All genres are welcome, as are both professional and amateur companies and plays aimed at adults and youth, says festival director Igor Ivkovic, who explains that innovation and overall quality are the major factors for selection. One production from the international segment will receive a "Best Play" designation and, with it, the opportunity to co-produce the piece with a Macedonian theatre. In the first international edition of the festival, the Russian company Harlequin triumphed over six Eastern European competitors to take the Grand Prix with its Non-linear Evolution. This year, the geographic spread of the contenders is wider, encompassing Germany, Venezuela, Slovakia, Serbia, Iran and the Netherlands. (May 10-15; (389) 3-115-508; www.theatre007.com)

Munich, Germany

Münchener Biennale: In even years, this Munich mainstay celebrates the cutting edge of opera and musical theatre, and it usually includes an ambitious commission or collaboration. This year is no different: Amazonas, running May 8-12, is a three-part exploration of the fate of the Amazon region from both insider and outsider perspectives. It features music and highly imaginative soundscapes by three composers—Klaus Schedl, Tato Taborda and Ludger Brümmer—paired with text by librettist Roland Quitt and artistic concepts posed by Peter Weibel and his ZKM Centre for Art and Media.

Part 1, "Tilt," traces the subtext of Sir Walter Raleigh's expedition report "The discoverie of the large rich and bewtiful empyre of Guaiana," relating his 1595 search for what the Spanish had dubbed El Dorado. The piece explores conquistador/colonialist patterns of thought such as "the nightmare of paradise, the horror of the nameless" and "the need to replace nature with culture." Part 2, "The Sky Is About to Fall," is based on interviews with the rain forest's indigenous population, especially its shamans, about how they perceive and explain the destruction of the ecosystem they depend on. It's no great surprise that Part 3, "Awaiting a Suitable, Rational Solution to the Climate Problem," takes place around a conference table. But the piece brings a policy debate among representatives of the political, business, scientific and religious communities into counterpoint with the spirit voices of the rain forest. (As a matter of fact, there are hints, in interviews with the creators, that the audience itself may become a rain forest choir of sorts.)

Fascinating and extensive documentation about the process of creating Amazonas appears on the website of the Goethe-Institut (one of several organizations co-producing the project) at www.goethe.de/ins/pt/lis/prj/ama. In one posted interview, Weibel explains, "The goal is a catharsis. However, I try to bring about this cathartic effect not through emotion but through knowledge, through information. When the curtain falls, the audience should be able to say: 'Now we finally understand what is actually happening in the Amazon.' After all, it is a fact that if we do not solve the Amazon problem we will not be able to solve a single climate problem in the next 50 years." (April 27-May 12; (49) 180-54-818181; www.muenchener-biennale.de)

Vienna, Austria

wiEner festwochen: As usual, Festwochen displays a rich lineup, setting crown jewels such as Lepage, Lupa, Castorf and Hermanis alongside indie gems, including the U.S.'s Young Jean Lee and the six thirtysomething Balkan artists showcased in this year's "forum festwochen" program.

The work of French-born director Luc Bondy is, of course, in the mix; he's steered Festwochen's performing arts program since 1997. This year two spins on old texts play under his direction. Helena is a Euripides script in a new translation by Austrian playwright Peter Handke. (In case your Inventive Greek History class skipped over it, you should know Euripides differs from Homer in suggesting the kidnapped Helen was actually just a phantom decoy.) Meanwhile, Scottish playwright David Harrower has made a new English translation of a Viennese play: Arthur Schnitzler's Liebelei (anglicized as Dalliance by Tom Stoppard in the 1980s, and here updated as Sweet Nothings). Bondy's staging debuted at London's Young Vic Theatre last month. (May 14-June 20; (43) 1-589-22-0; www.festwochen.at)