The York Crucifixion

            A wagon with three Bouffons aboard is dragged onto the stage by another jester (Kingsley Judd). Bouffons were the Mediaeval version of Bovver boys. Despite being strangely dressed themselves (Cherie Hewson), the characters continue to mock the status quo.
            The thugs demount and decide who they are going to pick on for their next beating. A new person in the town, Jesus (Renee McIntosh), is the obvious choice.
            In a similar manner to today’s thugs, there is a fair amount of grunting and friendly fighting (Andy Fraser) amongst themselves. Under the leadership of a Bouffon dressed like a locust (Damon Lockwood) they set out to find this religious leader. They crucify her, but Jesus arises from the dead and berates the attackers.

This interpretation of the 14^th Century play, is directed by Andrew Hale and has three well- respected ‘serious’ actors (Benj D’Addario, Igor Sas and Renee McIntosh) who are performing well outside their normal comfort zones. Still they blended skilfully in this off-the-planet play. One can only wonder if the real Crucifixion was carried out in a similar manner, by a bunch of yobs who were acting as reserve soldiers.
Living for some time in Glasgow, every area of the city was controlled by mindless, illogical gangs just like these Bouffons. The play was confronting, not from a moral sense, but in making the audience feel deliberately uncomfortable.
Do not expect this to be a sequel to last year’s light-hearted success, ‘The Messiah’.

The imaginative lighting by Lucy Birkinshaw created a powerful atmosphere. The design consultant, Bryan Woltjen, has left the stage completely blank but instead has created the most wonderful wagon Transformer. Like a Meccano set, it is pulled to pieces and reassembled at several times through out the play to create ingenious central props.

This play is very well thought out, but is deliberately designed to make the audience think. It has snippets from well-known musicals and films to add to the fun. Some bits worked others struggled a little, but the ideas were worth trying. The cast worked very hard. The highlight? A madrigal delightfully performed. I am sure that the director will see what works and will rework odds and ends in this very unusual, innovative play.