Godspell - Garrick Theatre
Thu, 27 Mar 2008, 06:23 pmPaul Treasure4 posts in thread
Godspell - Garrick Theatre
Thu, 27 Mar 2008, 06:23 pmGodspell must now be one of the most challenging musicals to pull off successfully.
You need to be modern enough to be relevant, while at the same time embracing the spirit of a time and place unfortunately long gone (well the time and place aren't LONG gone, but the spirit certainly is!).
In this I think Garrick's Godspell has succeeded admirably.
The very simple and sparse set, combined with bright costumes help the audience to focus their attention exactly where they should be, with the actors!
Luke Taafe gives his best performance yet as Jesus, maintaining an openness and childlikeness that can really only be compared to Alannis Morisette in Dogma. He exudes joy and wisdom, while avoiding the arrogance that can so easily creep in to this role.
The entire ensemble also deserve kudos for their full on embracing of the innocence required to pull this show off successfully, which is very difficult in this all too cynical world.
Special mention must go to Leesa Crosby, who seems like she was born to play this style of theatre... a flower child in real life perhaps?!
Well done to all involved, especially director Carolyn, a difficult task achieved well.
Godspell - Saturday 5 April
Sun, 6 Apr 2008, 06:30 pmThis is such a fantastic show that even an all-too-cynical one like myself enjoyed every minute of it.
Well done to every member of the cast who are all on stage during the whole show. Must be an exhausting feat, but every single person maintained a high level of performance through the whole two hours.
The band was fantastic and (yes, I was watching) also kept up their own stage presence, too.
Technicality-wise, I agree with all the comments made in the first two reviews by the technical experts - so no need to repeat. Though many congratulations to Director Carolyn Latter for such effective staging.
*Allegedly* there was a disgruntled walk-out or two during this particular performance, but it seems to be the flavour-of-the-month to have a strong personal reaction to plays in Perth with religious themes... Perhaps Garrick will end up with its own thread in the West online forums too..?
If it does, it would definitely bode well to book as soon as you can to see this entertaining musical.
Well worth the $20 ticket!!