Godspell

I was delighted to have the opportunity to review this production on behalf of my NODA colleague Vicki Avery and was warmly welcomed by Lynne Leggat, Hitchin Thespians’ Hon. General Secretary and her front-of-house team on our arrival at their delightful purpose-built venue.  The society are indeed very fortunate to have this facility at their disposal.

“Godspell”, for those unfamiliar with its theme, begins as a fun and energy-filled account of Jesus’ work amongst his growing community of followers, using parables from St. Matthew’s Gospel, interpreted in song, mime, games and dance.  In sobering and spiritually powerful contrast, the second act deals with the events leading to His passion and death.  

And passion was very much to the fore in this production – the cast of just ten characters creating a wonderfully coherent performance, which I found mesmerising and totally absorbing.  Their vitality and sense of real enjoyment and emotion in the piece was a testament to their individual talents, the creativity of Sarah Bailes’ choreography and Ian Hamilton’s skill as Director.

Wesley Hughes, in the central role as Jesus, gave an inspired and warm-hearted performance, contrasted by Kier Home in his dual role as John the Baptist and Judas, showing true emotion in his personal conflict between his friendship and ultimate betrayal of his leader.  Sarah Murdoch’s emotionally-charged solo “Day by Day” had me in tears and Sue Rayner’s solo number “Learn Your Lessons Well” was delightfully light-hearted in contrast.  Equally enjoyable and confidently delivered were the solos by Hayley Vaughan, Dean Kirkbride, Alison Hudson and Aaron Burke, with Isaac Evans and Barbara Thomas complimenting the other performers with their participation in the final musical number in Act 1 “Light of the World” and other full company numbers.

Stephen Schwartz’s musical score with up-dated lyrics, has some tricky harmonies and counterpoint in some of the songs, but these were all well-accomplished and the quality and volume of the chorus numbers was amazing.  There were some really memorable moments during the performance and John Edwards as Musical Director always ensured that his small band of musicians under-scored the vocalists sympathetically, with the sound crew keeping a good balance to the volume and tone throughout.

The set for “Godspell” is very stark and simple – interpreted here by a central scaffold tower with a raised platform either side and a back-projected screen for the various images and lighting effects that were employed by the technical crew.  Various on-stage props to “illustrate” the parables and games were used to good effect by the cast and ensured that the pace never slackened.

Instead of clown costumes for the various characters, which were used in the original New York production, the cast were dressed in an eclectic mix of colourful “hippie-style” costumes, which worked extremely well, with hairstyles to match, all adding significantly to the overall visual impact.

This was a truly skilfully worked and well-played production and the cast are to be congratulated on delivering such an impassioned performance.  Well done and thank you to all for such a memorable evening with Hitchin Thespians.

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