Godspell

I know that a trip to see a Spotlight production will include an abundance of enthusiasm and excitement, this was no exception.

Godspell is based on Matthew’s gospel in the bible and retells the parables of Jesus in different ways.  The opening summed up the confusion and chaos in the Tower of Babble and soon we were treated to full on chorus involvement as the story unravelled. The stage was a sea of colour and, as always, the choreography was taken on board by every member of the cast irrespective of age and ability. I must make mention of the group of dancers who go that one step further with the dance numbers to create a bigger picture.

This is a show where there are opportunities for a few vocal soloists rather than named characters, everyone sang well with clarity and were well taught by musical director Ian Windsor. Special mention must be made of Jake Silvester, who hardly left the stage throughout the performance. His portrayal of Jesus was confident, and he had certainly put in the work to get to grips with some taxing musical numbers. He was ably supported by Alfie Stokes as John the Baptist/Judas, someone else who has great stage presence and at ease ‘treading the boards!’ The ensemble sang well as a unit and supported the soloists in their numbers.

The set was simple but effective with good use of moving lights and projection as parts of the scenery, scene changes were efficient, and everyone knew their job when it came to scene changes.

There had been a great deal of work done by the company in learning magic tricks. These were well executed and certainly added to the overall storytelling, something, I’m sure, that this group will remember for a longtime. However, it was also an opportunity for members of the group to display their individual talents, from rock guitarists, flautists, drummers and acrobatic dancers – there is certainly a wealth of talent within this group.

The score to Godspell has a wide variety of styles and the company and musicians embraced all of them with skill and confidence. I am always in awe of the directors of Spotlight as it takes great vision to put so many youngsters on stage without it looking untidy, congratulations to Andrew Cox and Michelle Windsor for achieving this.

All in all, it was another entertaining performance from this talented group who always seem to have so much fun! Long may it continue.

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