I vividly remember at the start of lockdown having a really difficult time engaging with the move into streaming theatre content; it just reminded me of how it felt to be in the room, and the fact I felt distanced from my tribe and the thing that has effectively given me my social life and some friendships that have now being pushing a decade long. Over time, I found that negativity and sadness slowly easier to cope with, and I’ve been enjoying some fantastic theatre as a result! Not only that, a good majority of those pieces I’ve seen and been able to watch have been new to me, so a positive I’ve taken from this whole situation is that my theatre horizons and knowledge is still being broadened.

Such was the case on Saturday, when I watched Hope Mill Theatre’s 50th anniversary concert of Steven Schwartz and John – Michael Tebelak’s Godspell.

Strikingly, it began with a intro from Schwartz himself, where he pointed out that they had written the show during a difficult time, and that he hoped that its message of hope, love and community still rings true today, sentiments echoed by Ruthie Henshall before we began. As someone who was a newcomer to the the show and score, this struck me immediately and was definitely what I took away with me: it felt like something I needed to hear and had lost sight of, and for an hour or so it was an absolute joy to be reminded by such a talented company!

Structured as a series of parables primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, Godspell is interspersed with music from popular hymns, and ends with a glimpse of The Passion of The Christ. Cleverly though, Schwartz’s score contemporised the religious premise and the score is upbeat, catchy and full of joy You can feel this joy from the outset as Jenny Fitzpatrick runs through a forest singing “Prepare Ye The Way of The Lord”, Alison Jier bounds through a church with a monumentally uplifting “Bless The Lord”, or Danyl Johnson takes us to a stunning locale by the sea as he reminds us to be “The Light Of The World”. Each actor has performed in isolation, with their parts being edited together, and I was struck how director Michael Strassen and his team were able to make the transitions not only full of energy with fun nods to technology itself: “Day by Day” smartphones where you can see our ensemble chorus of Italia Conti students is a particular delight, or other striking visuals, often single words and photographs make this concert a visually exciting one, as well as a feast for one’s ears.

Being really honest: I was drawn to the show thanks to the presence of familiar names I know and love: Ria Jones, Matthew Croke, Jenna Russell and Jodie Steele. Ria takes on “Learn Your Lessons Well”, and once again completely bowled me over with her power and strength, so much so I was grinning like a Chesire cat and applauding as if I was in an auditorium watching her.

I was overjoyed to see Matthew’s smile and to finally see him perform after having had the joy of seeing his understudy in the role of Aladdin each time I went to Agrabah.

It’s actually thanks to Matthew that I knew a little of Godspell, he has an absolutely stunning cover of Beautiful City on his debut album that I fell more than a little bit in love with. So, I was intrigued to see where he’d fit in here, and hands down he and Darren Day (anchoring proceedings with a striking, emotive performance as Jesus – a role he’s returning to here) have my favourite moment in the piece: “All for The Best”! Reflecting on the lyrics, the song is actually quite dark, cynical and loaded with social commentary, but the ease with which the gents were able to navigate the speed of the lyrics was dizzying -I loved the setting of the number and the humour they brought to it. Still to this day I find myself randomly bursting into their lyrics…

Though it has many moments of larger than life bursts of energy and joy, the quieter moments of this score also really got under my skin, and were among the most striking and powerful throughout the whole concert because of their simplicity, often little more than a plain backdrop. Having yet had the chance to see Sam Tutty in Dear Evan Hansen or perform anything, period, I was blown away by his rendition of “All Good Gifts”, and Jenna Russell, John Barr & Sally Ann Triplett quite took my breath away with their performance of “On The Willows” – it was just so tender & beautifully expressive and their harmonies were perfect.

I’m incredibly honoured now to have seen Jodie Steele in another role beyond K Howard – her rendition of Beautiful City was nothing short of astonishing, not only vocally but in terms of her expression: it’s tender, raw and incredibly emotive.

In the midst of a time where the arts is suffering, Godspell was a real restorative tonic, and I’m grateful to have seen this incredibly special production.