It will be a Passion with a difference - the story of the Crucifixion told by the mother of Jesus.

An Easter Passion Play performance in Edinburgh this weekend, in the central Princes Street Gardens, will be told by a different narrator from the norm: Mary, mother of Jesus.

The Easter play, which has drawn thousands of viewers in recent years, is being performed by a community cast and some of the characters will speak in Scots.

It is the first time in the production's history that the narrator will be a woman.

The story of Jesus' death and resurrection prominently features women: Mary Magdelane as well as Mary, his mother, were at the Cross when Jesus died, and it was Mary Magdelane who discovered the empty tomb and was the first to see the resurrected Jesus.

However the Passion is not often told from a female perspective.

Suzanne Lofthus, the director, said: "It’s not enough to put on the Easter story every year, we are always looking for new ways to tell it, and ways which enable people to connect with it.

“Having a woman’s take on the story brings a fresh perspective.

"Because of how things were in the society of the time, women aren’t mentioned very much in traditional presentations of the story, but they were there and witnessed everything.

"Hearing Mary tell the story in her own words brings it alive in a new way."

The cast for the play, which begins at 2pm on Saturday, numbers 40 people, and Jesus is played by actor Duncan Rennie.

The writer of the piece, Kamala Jane Santos, has created several characters who speak in Scots.

The cast includes students, doctors, teachers, window cleaners, bar tenders, some acting for the first time, others more experienced.

Ms Lofthus said: "People might be a bit surprised at first when they hear John the Baptist speaking in the mother tongue, but we want to communicate the fact that the people in the Bible story were ordinary men and women, just like us.”

The production has experimented with various takes on the story in recent years, including The Edinburgh Passion in 2014, written by Rob Drummond as well as On the Edge in 2015, a promenade production using characters on the edges of the tale of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection.

This year, the production is described as more traditional.

Rev Mike Frew, chairman of the Princes Street Easter Play Trust, said: “We have gone back to a traditional costumed production this year because we felt that a lot of people don’t know the original story.

"We really want the characters to speak in contemporary voices, the kind of language people who hear and use in conversation, to make a bridge from the original story to the 21st century."

The performance is free and unticketed.