REVIEW: Godspell

Jesselyn Verity dissects DramaSoc’s latest production "Godspell".

drama society dramasoc Godspell jesselyn jesus judas musical Theatre uea verity

Sparkly hats, feather boas and guys in eyeliner, such a collection could only be found in one place: a good old fashioned, feel good musical!

A musical retelling of the parables of Jesus, Godspell is brought to life by some truly outstanding performances and some very clever choreography.
 
Like any musical should be it’s fun and easy to watch, sure to get your toes tapping and your hands clapping. True it’s let down somewhat by a script which is tedious to those already familiar with the parables. The structure is simply a succession of these stories, so don’t be expecting a show with a strong narrative and a suspense building plot as it has neither.
 
On the whole, however, Godspell’s heart is in the right place and every member of the audience (most of whom endured being dragged on stage to join in with the encore number) had a smile on their face by the end. Slapstick and caricature are cleverly used, managing to stay on the right side of funny without taking it so far it’s cringe-worthy.
 
The company have been in rehearsals since the beginning of the semester and all that hard work truly has paid off. Every one of them is exceedingly talented, with beautiful vocals that make you shiver for some numbers, and in others making you sing along even if you don’t know the words.
 
The superb live band is the cherry on top of the Godspell cake, complimented by a very large slice of good old musical theatre cheese. Godspell is not at all a bad way to spend two hours of your life on these cold March evenings.

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