Last year, a unique Christian theatre performance caught Kigali by surprise. Not so many people had experienced that style of worship, at least in local churches, and it is back and bigger, according to the organisers – Christian Life Assembly (CLA), Nyarutarama.

Known as ‘Christmas Cantata’; the production is an hour and a half broadway-like musical theatre production telling the story of Christmas through various creative means, crafted by a production team of 200 people including actors, a professional orchestra, a choir, costume designers, stage designers, audio-visual engineers to mention but a few.

Last year, 4 shows were hosted and over 5000 people attended. And this year, the organisers are looking at a minimum of 8000 people to unbox this year’s ‘Christmas gift’, according to Hassan Kibirango, the Youth Pastor at CLA.

‘As CLA we are going to celebrate Christmas by giving a gift to the city of Kigali, and our gift is a multi-faceted production entitled "Christmas Cantata”. It is going to be through songs, drama, instrumentation and it is really to mark the birth of Christ, and to tell the world and Kigali in particular that Jesus Christ is God, this Child that was born is God himself reincarnate in flesh.

‘So we are reminding the city of Kigali what Christmas is about and who Christ is. My appeal to the entire city is to come down and watch this show. It’s a gift to the city of Kigali, you will not regret it,’ Kibirango said.

Over 200 actors, singers and dancers are going to be lined up for the impressive show to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Hassan added that Cantata is an avenue for families to be together, ‘as we showcase the reason for the season and celebrate creativity.’

Daniel Mugisha, the Production Director of the Christmas Cantata told Sunday Times that, this year’s production is different from last years’ Cantata.

‘To keep every year unique, we tell the story of Christmas through different bible characters’ lenses. This year, we will tell the story of Christ told through the lens of an old man in the bible under the theme "This Child is God”.’

The first edition of the Christmas Cantata – a three-day production – was a tale from the bible that portrayed a certain family that owned the Inn, in which Jesus Christ was born – it will be through live music, dance and drama.

The second edition of the annual Christmas Cantata – taking place at CLA Nyarutarama main auditorium – will run from December 21-24 and will feature drama, songs, dances among others.

The production is in English and it appeals to both the young and old. Entrance to the show is free, doors are open at 5PM everyday from December 21.

Fabrice Nzeyimana, the creative arts director at CLA, says, emphasizes that the gospel of Jesus Christ, has been perceived to be one to be preached from a pulpit only, but drama and creative arts are another powerful medium of sharing this unique story of the birth of Jesus Christ, hence Christmas Cantata.

Nzeyimana says that the church has invested in close to Rwf35 million to put up together a choir, stage and costume, sound and light, among others things to make this year’s production ‘bigger and better’.

‘We know this generation is so much into Hollywood and that kind of stuff. We don’t want to make church boring. Besides, God gave His all for us and therefore we had to make as much investment in creativity as possible to make His story unique,’ Nzeyimana said.

Commenting about the Theme of this year’s show ‘This Child is God’ Nzeyimana explained that, ‘Last year’s theme was asking ‘What Child is this?’ And this year we wanted to make it clear that Jesus Christ is more than just a Messiah, Jesus is God!’