Pilgrims converging on the north east of Brazil for the traditional Easter celebrations are this week being confronted with an altogether different spectacle - the battle of the Jesuses.
There used to be just one Passion Play in the remote state of Pernambuco: a lavish production at Nova Jerusalem, a scaled down replica of ancient Jerusalem which is the world's largest open theatre. The stage is stunning - at 70,000 square metres, it contains 12 granite stages, seven gateways, 70 towers and a three metre-high perimeter wall.
For more than 30 years, tens of thousands of believers have flocked here from all over the country - and abroad. But this year the pilgrims are spoilt for choice. Do they go to Nova Jerusalem or do they travel 100 miles (160 kms) to the state capital, Recife, to watch a rival production in an 80,000 capacity football stadium, which is vying for the title of largest Passion Play in the world?
The battle between shows has caused a most un-Christian-like competition all across Pernambuco. On billboards by the state's highways, on the radio and on television, each is claiming it will be bigger, better, and more hightech than the other. Nova Jerusalem promises light canons firing eight kilometre beams into the night sky. Recife promises a laser show for the Resurrection with fireworks imported from Spain.
The feud has also provoked a slanging match on which Jesus is the more authentic. In one corner sits Fabio Assuncao, the 26-yearold soap opera heart-throb who's first-time appearance at Nova Jerusalem last year doubled the turn-out to 75,000 by attracting legions of female fans.
In the other sits Jose Pimentel, aged about 50 (he refuses to be exact), the grand homme of Pernambuco theatre. In fact, Pimentel used to be Jesus at Nova Jerusalem for 19 years, until last year when he was unceremoniously sacked - at the request of the TV sponsors - for being too old. The conflict between Passion Plays stems from Pimentel's desire for revenge.
Pedro Sousa, Pimentel's assistant, explains that the actor was devastated when he was sacked from Nova Jerusalem. "He really suffered. It was his life. He spent 30 years there altogether. He had no choice but to start another one - he wanted to show them he could win without them."
After a small but well-received start last year, Pimentel has managed to find sponsorship and this year his production is on a similar scale to the one at Nova Jerusalem. In order to be one up on his rivals he has kept the cost down at about £3.50, one fifth of the price at the other place, calling it the "Passion Play of The People"
He has spent a large part of the budget - £300,000 sterling - on an advertising campaign with bitchy slogans such as "Even The Price Is A Miracle" and "Only The Faithful Go to the Stadium".
Each of the shows is on in the week running up to Easter. Nova Jerusalem has a capacity of 8,000 a day, the stadium of several times more. Pimentel now believes that a football stadium is a perfect venue for a Passion Play. "I think it's much better here. This is proper theatre. The others go back as far as the time of Christ. I'm going back further - we're going back to the Greeks, to the origin of theatre, when it was in big stadiums like this."
He is also dismissive of his rival director, Carlos Reis, a former friend who played Jesus at Nova Jerusalem before he did. "In 30 years I learnt how to do this type of theatre. I created it all. They didn't learn a thing."
In Nova Jerusalem, they are dismissive of the Recife Passion Play, saying that it's for a different, cheaper crowd, who are less into theatre and more into technical wizardry. "I don't like lasers," says Carlos Reis. "Lasers have nothing to do with a Passion Play. It's for a rock and roll show. We leave our pyrotechnics until after the resurrection. It represents our happiness. It does not represent the splendour of Jesus.
The replacement of Pimentel with a soap opera star from metropolitan Sao Paulo offended many people who thought that Jesus should be a local person. But this didn't fit into the organiser's plans.
"We couldn't stay the same, we had to change," says press officer Mauro Gomes. "People complained that we didn't get a local actor, but to make it more attractive we needed to make it a national event. We're living in a world of globalisation, you can't discriminate because of where an actor's from."
Assuncao seems mildly amused by the bickering between the two productions. He says he is full of admiration for Pimentel, but adds "You have to respect the role. An actor can be too old. I wouldn't play King Lear - so an old man shouldn't play Christ."