passion play

Also the title of a funny and depressing novel by the Irish writer Conal Creedon. It's about a well-intentioned and oblivious (and mentally ill) n'er-do-well who stumbles from one failure to the next until he finally kills himself, at which point the mood lifts. amazon.com seems to think it's out of print.

Passion Play, a mystery or miracle play founded on the passion of our Lord; a dramatic representation of the scenes of the passion. The only Passion play still kept up is that periodically represented in Oberammergau in Bavaria.

Entry from Everybody's Cyclopedia, 1912.