GOD'S GREATEST HITS
November 1985
 

Cumbernauld News – November 11^th 1985 “Youth Theatre come down Earth” (sic)   Top

“You’ve read the book, you’ve seen the movie, now experience the Rock Musical that created the world!”

And in deed it was quite earth-shattering at Cumbernauld Theatre over the weekend as the world was created – and destroyed – couple of times.

The talented bunch that make up Cumbernauld Youth Theatre were putting their skills to good use in creating a show that was entertaining, fun but with a thought-provoking finale.

Based (roughly) on the Bible, “God’s Greatest Hits Vol. 1” first of all looked at the earth from its earliest moments through Lucifer, Adam and Eve, and Dr Moses, whose “Ten Commandments” song with a crowd of 60’s-psychedlia hippies probed a rousing end to the first act.

After an interval of 2000 years, it was time for Jesus, or J.C. as he’s know now, to make an appearance, Heading a rock band preaching peace and love through his songs, it was a re-working of the Bible story sticking subtly to the main points of that well-known tale. 

Nick Fearne, who both wrote and directed the productions, carefully introduced Peter, and “Judas” in the form of Sliver, both members of the band The Apostles. And in the end J.C. is “crucified” by the popular press.

Sounds blasphemous? Not at all. It was all extremely well acted and directed to produce a show that appealed to all ages.

And the finale, with Satan directing a “popular” quiz show “The Power Game”, had the audience leaving the theatre with plenty to think about.

Apart from anything else, the show also introduced a few interesting themes. Did you know God is a Yorkshire man? Craig Brackenridge, swinging on the trapeze over “his” Earth, was very good as the Supreme Being coming home to his practical wife Mrs God (Pauline Murphy) and some J.C. (another good performance from Gary Hamilton) after a hard day creating life.

Claire O’ Connor as Lucifer and her sidekick Lightburne (Helena Craighead) worked well together. They soon had the audience on their side in an entertaining portrayal of two “little devils” coming up against Satan, play gloweringly by Alan Caskie. I like the Seven Deadly Sins too!

Modern man, as represented by the squalid staff of a popular newspaper, didn’t show up too well morally against good old God’s Squad. But the parts were well acted by the teenagers, not forgetting The Apostles, J.C’s backing band, and Mary.

Throughout the production there were plenty of songs and music, which added to the show as a whole. I felt a bit sorry for God, though, who’s “Creation Song” at the start of the show was a totally sole effort, nobody else to help. Still Craig coped well, as always.

And I particularly like the special effects, which were great, especially the beginning and ending of the show with Earth lying dead, waiting for life.

So all in all, congratulations to everyone concerned. It was a super show. We’ve read the book, seen the movie, seen the musical – now when’s the record coming out, and what’s the sequel about?

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