In the Middle Ages Jesus used to appear regularly in plays. In the last 100 years Jesus has appeared mainly on film and television and also in two highly popular musicals. Alec McCowen once learned the whole of St Mark’s Gospel by heart and told “the good news” with conviction, compassion and, unexpectedly, a great deal of humour. Tom Conti appeared in Jesus, My Boy in which he played Joseph as a bewildered Jewish dad who wonders why his son thinks he is the Messiah. Fiona Shaw was seen earlier this year in an adaptation of Colm Toibin’s heretical novel, The Testament of Mary, in which Mary does not believe Jesus is the son of God.
Simon Callow, who has played Wilde, Shakespeare, Dickens and Wagner in his one-man shows, does not play Jesus. In Matthew Hurt’s script Jesus is seen only through the eyes of Mary, John the Baptist, Simon, Judas, Herod and Pilate and records the impact Jesus had on them. There are twelve characters and Callow plays them all, a tour de force. The most dramatic moment is his confrontation with his mother at the wedding in Cana in Galilee. The most amusing are the scenes with Herod and Pilate and those with James, Jesus’ half-brother.
Jesus’ teaching and charisma are made vivid. The stage is bare, except for a pile of chairs, which are cleverly used. Callow, a bravura actor, takes a tight hold on the audience. My only criticism is that he adopts far too many different accents.