GODSPELL

I had a good evening out on Saturday, first going for a curry (at the splendid Kashmir), and the going to see the Jacob's Well production 'GODSPELL'. And all to welcome back Lydia from China. No need to tell you about the curry, I'm sure you can guess what that was like-and if you can't, I recommend you get along to the Kashmir as soon as you can. But the play was brilliant!

If you've seen 'Godspell' before, you might think you know what it would be like, but it promised that you wouldn't have seen it like this. As I hadn't, I didn't have anything to compare it to, and can just say it was an amazing production in its own right. From the strong, though confusing, start through to the powerful and emotional end, it grabbed my attention and didn't let go.
The way it was set up onstage was to look like a post-apocalyptic children's playground, as if the characters and world were shaped, defined, by something that had happened in the past. Think 'Mad Max', though I also felt it was something like 'Waiting for Godot'-I don't really know why. So, it started with God coming on and walking through His creation, and then He left. And then the people came on. And from that point, it was pretty much non-stop movement, going from one story to another. Word had got around that there was something different about this performance, and the first thing was pretty obvious-there was no-one playing the character of Jesus. Something you might think would be fairly central to the story, but it was something they used to great effect by the simple device of having a coat that got passed around-the wearer playing Jesus for that moment.
There were a couple of other things added to this production that I don't think are in all versions of this play. one thing was that the characters were responding to what Jesus was saying, as the play went on; and as they 'got it', they were spotlit for a moment, pointing up there was something more to their response than just understanding. And this led to the second part of using the coat-there were a couple of people who never wore the coat, never played Jesus, and when the betrayal scene came about, they were the ones who betrayed Him. And then the crucifixion happened. The first point in the play to have a sustained time of silence and stillness, only broken by one of the betrayers' heartbroken repentance. And then darkness fell. And when the light came back, the characters discovered that the gate at the rear of the stage, which had been locked all through, was standing open. The characters were unsure about what to do for a bit, but it wasn't long before they started to make their way through, including one who finally 'got it' just at that point. And they all left the stage through the gate-except one. He refused, and the lights fell with him just sitting, staring at the floor.

That's what I meant by a powerful and emotional ending. All through the play, it was high energy and a hefty dose of humour, which meant that that ending, when it came, was as moving and memorable as it was unexpected. Congratulations, guys, I'm sure this will stay with people for a long time to come...