Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ has been dominating the news and the box offices of late, but it sometimes is important to remember that Gibson is simply re-telling a frequently told two-thousand-year-old tale. Each generation and time tells the tale in its own way and reflecting its own time. Our news today is dominated by violence, both of war and towards each other, so it should be no surprise that Gibson chose to highlight the violence done upon Jesus during his trip to and position on the cross.
It might also be useful to remember that there are many other ways to look at this powerful story and different messages to take from it. In the 1970’s, there was a lingering hope for the collective nature of mankind – the ethic of being all in it together. Peace and love were considered both a possibility and a requirement for the future survival of mankind. That hope may have been dashed by subsequent events. We now as a nation are the targets of terrorism anywhere and at any time. In response, we have declared war on a good part of the world and are attempting to solve the world’s problems with guns and smart bombs. We speak to and about one another with escalating malice with little effort at re-establishing a system of checks and balances. Even our entertainment is dominated by “reality” shows which feature cut throat competition leading to wide-spread elimination. “You’re fired” is the buzz word of a country where once it was “Give peace a chance.” Small wonder that gobs of bloody carnage is what it takes to get us to respond.
Skwalking Heads Productions, a welcome newcomer to Chattanooga’s performing arts scene, recently hosted the Tonkawa Theater Tribe from Chicago and its production of the musical Godspell, a re-telling of the gospel story portraying Jesus and his twelve disciples as a 60’s hippie commune given a contemporary rave gathering sensibility. Performances took place on the stage at Chattanooga State. Despite all the time references and de-construction of the basic gospel story with song, dance, humor, vaudeville, and a bit of high technology, it remains as compelling as ever.
Skwalking Heads is the creation of Colleen and Ray Laliberte, both have whom have been consistently active in a variety of local theatre venues. If this Godspell production is an example of what they have in store for Chattanooga, then we may be seeing many good things. It was sad to see such a thin crowd in attendance at what was one of the better shows available here lately. For a community which places a high premium on faith-based activities, this show should have been high on everyone’s list, for it managed to re-engage a truly spiritual message behind the gospel story and one that was filled with hope and not despair.
At times, the production suffered from sound balance problems, since all the actors were using body or head-set microphones to sing over the rock music score, but the lighting and set, which were brought with the cast from Chicago, brought home the point that Chattanooga needs to invest in some new lighting equipment or find some people who can make the most of what we have available. There were a number of stunningly beautiful moments throughout in Jesse Klug’s design.
The central role of Jesus was performed by Zach Laliberte, son of Colleen and Ray, who is an actor of considerable talent, range, plasticity, and maturity. He is yet another young Chattanooga artist who has left his native city, and we can only hope that we will have another opportunity to see him perform. His Jesus came across as someone who made his true mark as a parable-teller. His stories and lessons contained his message, and sometimes they were hard to understand, let alone learn. Matt Marcum played the dual role of John the Baptist and Judas, and he was particularly strong in portraying Judas’ growing disillusionment with Jesus and his eventual betrayal.
Director Danny Bernardo inserted numerous updates to Godspell to give it currency, including an opening cell phone sequence. His youthful, high-powered cast gave the original story of the Woodstock generation meeting the Gospel According to St. Matthew more of a feeling of the tenants of Rent meeting and moving to Chicago. It was an explosion of life and color, an ode to Eros, at a time devoted to Thanatos. Its most extraordinary feature was that despite being artifice or make-believe, it stood and existed as a very moving non-performance performance that would likely have been the same if one person or ten thousand had been watching.
Cities and people are creatures of habit, but habits that are bad sometimes need to be broken. Chattanooga is longing for numerous changes that won’t happen unless the patterns of the past are re-assembled. One thing that needs encouragement is the willingness to investigate and embrace new possibilities like Skwalking Heads. Current theatre offerings here are not adequate, so they all need to be challenged and expanded, and I have the feeling that Skwalking Heads will be doing just that in the days to come.