Adam and Eve
The characters are presented together in the plays, from the creation of both to their fall. Adam is not seen as an innocent bystander in the plays and is presented as just as culpable in the temptation as Eve herself. There are three plays featuring Adam and Eve; the first is their creation, beginning with Adam's, and subsequently Eve's to assuage Adam's loneliness. The second shows their temptation and Eve's inability to resist it, and the third shows the fall of man that is a direct result of their not being able to withstand temptation even though it means that the world falls down around them.
Cain and Abel
Cain and Abel are the oldest sons of Adam and Eve. They each make sacrifices to God; Cain, a farmer, sacrifices produce, whilst Abel, a shepherd, sacrifices a lamb. Although they are both sincere in their sacrifices God favors Abel's sacrifice over Cain's. Cain is so jealous that he murders Abel, which leads to his condemnation.
Noah
Noah is perhaps one of the best known of the Old Testament characters and the last of the pre-flood patriarchs. As well as being the builder of the Ark, for which he is most known, Noah also invented wine. Noah saves mankind, and all of the animals on the earth, by building the Ark which enables them to ride out the Great Flood. Abraham and God made an agreement that God would never destroy man or animal by flood again.
Abraham
A man whose age in the Bible is often rather hyperbolic and exaggerated Abraham is the father of Isaac. He is a loving father but is also very devout and loyal to God, so when he is called upon to sacrifice Isaac, he is willing ot do so. Seeing that Abraham is willing to obey him even at the cost of his son's life, God sends an emissary to stop him. Abraham sees a ram close by and sacrifices it instead of Isaac.
Virgin Mary
Mary's part in the plays begins with the Annunciation, which was the time at which the Angel of the Lord told her that she was pregnant and that the baby she was carrying would be the Son of God. Mary actually appears in fie of the plays, including the Nativity, and her own persecution and subsequent escape from Herod's men.
Jesus Christ
There are a number of the plays that focus upon Jesus, the first being his Nativity. We then see him as a twelve year old boy accompanying Mary to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage for Passover. As children do, Jesus lingered in the Temple and strayed from his parents who noticed his absence from the large family group when they arrived home. He was found conversing with doctors at a level that surpassed theirs. The inclusion of this story in the plays sets the tone for the other stories of Jesus that have been selected. The plays also deal with his Transfiguration. The majority of the "plot lines" selected for the play explain who Jesus was a person rather than what his position or his role was and then subsequently explain why he was persecuted.
Mary Magdalene
Mary was a Jewish woman who travelled with Jesus. She is mentioned by name more than any of the Apostles other than Peter. In the plays, she is portrayed as a witness to the crucifixion and a witness to Jesus' resurrection.
Thomas
Thomas lives up to the moniker "Doubting Thomas" in the plays as they deal with Jesus' reappearance to him and his doubt over the resurrection until he has seen Jesus with his own eyes.
