o What: “Godspell,” produced by Christian Youth Theater Portland/Vancouver.
o When: 7 p.m. June 4; 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. June 5; and 3 p.m. June 6.
o Where: Washburn Performing Arts Center, 1201 39th St., Washougal.
o Cost: $12 for adults and $9 for youth and seniors. Saturday shows are $8. Tickets purchased at the door an additional $2.
o Information: 360-750-8550 or http://www.cytvanport.org.
What if Jesus Christ were a modern-day carpenter, the kind of working class guy you might find at, say, a construction site?
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o What: "Godspell," produced by Christian Youth Theater Portland/Vancouver.
o When: 7 p.m. June 4; 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. June 5; and 3 p.m. June 6.
o Where: Washburn Performing Arts Center, 1201 39th St., Washougal.
o Cost: $12 for adults and $9 for youth and seniors. Saturday shows are $8. Tickets purchased at the door an additional $2.
o Information: 360-750-8550 or http://www.cytvanport.org.
That’s the premise behind “Godspell,” a Christian Youth Theater play being performed at Washburn Performing Arts Center in Washougal.
“Godspell,” an alternative spelling of gospel, is based upon the Bible’s Gospel of Matthew. The on- and off-Broadway play, written by John Michael Tebelak, then 22, began production in 1971. It was made into a movie in 1973 that featured views from the newly built World Trade Center Towers, which were destroyed during 9/11.
Some productions have portrayed Jesus and the cast as clowns. This production opts for construction workers.
This is the second time in three years that the local Christian Youth Theater group has produced the play, said Freida Thompson, area coordinator for the theater company.
“We thought it would be a good one to bring back,” Thompson said, adding that the 37-member cast took a hands-on role in molding the play’s characters and biblical message. “They were given some freedom to personalize their parts in the parables.”
‘Emotionally moving’
The cast members, mostly teenagers, spent six weeks in rehearsals.
During a recent dress rehearsal, the teens donned colored vests to play out the biblical stories at an on-stage construction site, a set surrounded by scaffolding and other construction paraphernalia. The curtains never close during the play.
In the orchestra pit, two guitars and a keyboardist play contemporary music to accompany the scenes.
Caleb Adderley, playing Jesus, snaps open a black lunchbox for the Last Supper scene in which construction-working disciples gather around for the feast. For the wine, out came a thermos, its cup passed around.
But the crucifixion scene is destined to be the play’s pinnacle. Director Jeff McHenry was finessing the final technical details during a dress rehearsal. For the scene, Jesus rises toward the heavens. But, he’ll do it on a chain-link fence, which will rise with pulleys until it’s even with the scaffolding.
“It’s an emotionally moving play to act out on stage,” Thompson said.
