Christ Almighty: A Comedy of Biblical Proportions
We are fortunate to live in a society where you can poke fun at our major religion and for it to be a non-issue. Indeed, Jesus himself instructed his followers to turn the other cheek when they are subjected to an insult.
The added benefit of this approach is that it denies oxygen to the work. Monty Python’s The Life of Brian enjoyed a surge of popularity when Christian groups called for a boycott. Decades later the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints wisely ignored the musical The Book of Mormon.
This production is clearly blasphemous, but all the pre-publicity made it crystal clear that this was case, so anyone who might be offended can stay away.
In the musical Jesus is “a single thirty-something who spends his days punching in-and-out of his dad Joe’s carpentry business, and his nights punching bongs.” God appears and Jesus is given a kick up the bum, prompting him to head to Jerusalem to save people from their sins.
Being stoned is a theme that is touched on in more ways than one. One of the sharper points the work makes is that in biblical times you could be stoned for being a homosexual.
The opening night audience was largely in tune with the comedy, with regular laughs at clever gags. My favourite was a quip about why the camels were getting pregnant so frequently.
Sitting in the front row was however an uncomfortable experience, due to the volume of the band, so I evacuated to the back of the theatre where I could hear the lyrics.
The golden rule for creating a new work is to have separation of powers between the creatives. The director of a new work should not be the writer. In this case Tommy James Dean was both.
Perhaps a more experienced director would have pointed out where he went a little too far in mocking some of the core beliefs of Christianity, or where the work could have been tighter.
On the positive side, the producers nicely costumed their large cast, who provided several surprises.
Giuseppe Rotondella as Jesus impressed with dancing and fight choreography. James Hartley as King Herod was always entertaining. James Burchett as the high priest had gravitas and wit. Emma Flynn was charismatic as Mary Magdalene.
Overall, it delivers much more than a typical university revue but needs more work if it is ever to seen again outside a fringe festival.
David Spicer
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