Godspell

Stephen Schwartz’s 1970’s musical Godspell is notoriously difficult to pull off. A host of bible parables told by disciple leader ‘Superman’, interspersed with a collection of catchy songs which  makes for an episodic show, culminating in the last supper and crucifixion.

Five Towns Theatre Company made a valiant attempt at recreating this show at the Stoke Rep Theatre from 2nd to 6th June, where a young and enthusiastic cast gave it their all to convey the messages within the text. Although the libretto is at times difficult to comprehend, due to its complexity and language, the cast acted out each parable with energy and confidence. Having taken the more traditional route and following many of the detailed stage descriptions in the script, the company worked well as a team, each playing their role with purpose. However, on occasions I did wonder whether the audience may have felt a bit lost, as sometimes the stories content was hurried through without a chance for understanding. The audience only gets one shot to catch it, make it so clear they couldn’t possibly miss it!

The individual ‘disciple’ characters worked hard to lead the rest of the company. It would have been great to see more development of their individual characters, each with a certain trait or characteristic that continued throughout. However the solo vocals in all of the songs were very strong. Much praise however, must be given to Jude Leath-Yates as Jesus. As the central character and leader of the group, Jude must be congratulated firstly on learning the huge amounts of dialogue, but also for maintaining focus throughout and delivering a very mature performance.

I particularly loved the idea of a raked stage area which allowed for variant in height and still left a good sized playing area at the front of the apron. It was good to see the use of creative lighting, particularly in the complex prologue, which highlighted each of the groups and gave focus to their section of the number. The touch of fluorescent in the company’s costumes was also a lovely idea that gave an extra highlight to the lighting. There were some lovely touches of humour throughout which lifted the show. The vocals were well rehearsed and the moves confident. My tip to the directors would be - take care not to ask your actors to play too much of their dialogue and songs ‘out front’ to the fourth wall. Use the cast to create an on stage audience.

Congratulations and well done to all involved. I look forward to your next production of ghost.

Rachel Millar

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