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REVIEW: Godspell, Lancaster Grand Theatre
THEY walked and talked with God when the About Theatre company pulled off a minor miracle with the Lancaster premiere of the musical Godspell at the Grand Theatre.
This riveting production was a triumph for the director Sharon Bell and her specially assembled cast of local amateur talent, who rose to a tough challenge with exuberance and flair.
About Theatre was founded by Roger Bradley in 1998. Sadly, Roger died in 2007 after a long battle with cancer at the age of 42. But his name lives on through the company's occasional productions, proceeds from which support cancer charities through the Bradley Fund.
One thing is for sure, Roger would have been proud of Godspell, which relates, in a modern idiom, to the life of Jesus, as told in the Gospel of St Matthew. A group of everyday folk answer an inexplicable rallying call and come together with a bare-chested man who turns out to be Jesus.
And this is where Sharon Bell immediately displays her flair and imagination in cleverly using a film backdrop to show the people leaving local points, such as the Ashton Memorial and Morecambe seafront, in answer to the call. Sharon also introduces several nicely worked updates for the show, written in 1970 by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak.
The fact the entire cast are on stage throughout is an illustration of how demanding the roles are. And none more so than for Jesus himself, a character superly captured by John Beamer, who became a challenging, angry and compassionate Son of God. John dominated the stage wth his presence.
And he was so strongly supported by what essentially was a hand-picked company, demonstrating powerfully the depth of amateur talent to be found in this district
Paul Atkinson was a rumbustious and powerful John the Baptist while Bob Christie, as a weak, shamefaced Judas, exuded betrayal. And then we had the everyday folk - here there were several wonderful cameos, including beautiful singing and some rather well executed bouts of humour. Take a well deserved bow Damian Ashton, Dominic Ashton, Lara Bell, Pat Chambers, Jenny Griffiths, Sophie Hughes, Chris Isherwod, Nici Marriott, Kay McLaughlin, Richard Prescott, Sarah Pye, Ginny Scott, Jane Silvester, Karen Simpson, and Bryan Wood. Angela Pearson's musical direction was a vital piece of this wonderful biblical jigsaw.
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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