If somehow you missed it, Biola Theatre brought to the Lot F stage “Godspell,” the musical. If you tried to walk down “caf hill” the nights of April 22 through 25, you couldn’t miss the guy in clown makeup reciting biblical parables. That was “Godspell.” If you were able to watch it but still need a bit of clarity regarding the creative choices and overall plot of the show, hopefully this will help.
WHAT IS GODSPELL?
Godspell is a musical written by Stephen Schwartz that was actually not intended to be a particularly Christian musical at all, but rather, was developed in a graduate school theatre class. Based solely on the gospel of Matthew, it follows the lives of the disciples and highlights the community aspect Jesus fostered on earth rather than any claim to his divinity. Unfortunately because of adaptations by various religious or non-religious groups, the musical has become a topic of controversy instead of existing as art.
“It doesn’t take a position one way or the other on whether or not Jesus is divine, but simply deals with his teachings of tolerance and the need for community… But frankly, I’m so disgusted with what’s happened to ‘religion’ in this country, I’m becoming sorry I wrote the show at all,” Schwartz shared on his website.
THE DIRECTOR
Distinctly within the script, Jesus, after being crucified, does not resurrect. What does this mean for a place like Biola to perform it, knowing that we affirm the divinity and resurrection of Jesus Christ? Olivia Carter, the director of the Biola “Godspell” production, shared her insights and passions for the show.
“It is an incredible opportunity to say ‘this is our story.’ How do we tell these things and take these sacramental moments and then do something theatrical with this instead of theologically questionable?” Carter shared.
True to the original performance of “Godspell” on stage, the clown motif is one that Carter decided to keep.
“We’re trying to get under the intellect, we’re trying to see what it’s like to behave like a child with all these child impulses…What you are all exploring at Biola theologically this year is the idea of having childlike faith. So you think of a little kid, and you think ‘yeah, they’re silly’ and childlike faith is ‘simply believe it!’ but watching my two-year-old play it’s so serious. If you’re ‘Ariel,’ you’re ‘Ariel;’ that is your reality now,” Carter explained.
For any unsettling feelings that people may have approached the production with or left with, Carter emphasized her reverence for the holy truth of God.
“I’m a believer, and these are really holy things with the possibility for someone to take them incredibly wrong. I don’t take that lightly. So with a lot of fear and trepidation and prayer [I approached this],” Carter admitted.
As the Biola actors approached this tension, a beautiful story unfolded.
THE ACTORS
Andrew Ambrose, who played Jesus in this production, found time for reflection in production.
“It has been a very humbling experience. There are a lot of interactions that Jesus has with the disciples that are hard to achieve… it’s hard to play Jesus,” Ambrose admits.
Luke Bona, who performed as one of the disciples, discovered emotional truths about the biblical characters in Matthew.
“If you think about it, kids are portraying their authentic selves all the time…coming to God pure, authentically, no strings attached, and just listening, experiencing, and being. Jesus says ‘Let the little children come to me,’ they don’t know any better, they’re acting with true, genuine emotion. This show nails down the gospel of Matthew to happiness, sadness and anger. It’s really beautiful,” Bona explained.
Dennan Dick, who was a part of the ensemble, felt that the show reminded him of the gentleness of God.
“[A relationship with God] feels more soft and gentle, and that’s been invigorating for me.”
Allie Silva, who played a disciple, felt surprised by the production process.
“It had us in an interesting place, doing a show that’s not written by Christians, but we are, and it’s for a Christian audience… the way we handled it was with humility and highlighting childlike faith… we got to explore this show and art in a way that’s glorifying God but not in the ways you typically think it would be.”
So that’s what was going on in Lot F. A retelling of the gospel of Matthew where Jesus was a clown, and the disciples were kids, all to the glory of God, the one we know is in Heaven and returning soon.
