Community theatre is not usually the domain of a local church, however St Stephen's Anglican Church, Newtown, has embraced the musical as a form of outreach by putting on a production of Godspell.
A cast and crew of more than 100 performed to more that 700 audience members over five performances.
"It was really terrific," said Senior Minister at St Stephen's, Rev Peter Rodgers. "It was great to see lots of people at church working together and exercising their gifts. It also brought lots of people into our church building to hear the story of Jesus in a different way."
Regina Wong was one of the many church members involved in the production. She believes that telling the story of Jesus in the form of a musical was a great way to remind people of the gospel.
"The show presented a lot of gospel stories," she said. "It jogged peoples memories and encouraged them to ask questions. It also showed people that Christians don't have to be boring, it was a really comical show that engaged the audience."
Godspell was the "baby' of directors Penny Dalgleish and Camilla Vernon, both of whom have drama backgrounds.
"For me, this performance has been three and a half years in the making. When I first arrived at St Stephen's in 2007 three things caught my attention straight away, the church building is remarkable, the church community is ridiculously talented and this community is passionate, diverse and generous. For three years I ruminated on how these things could be combined for a creative purpose and Godspell 2010 is the result," Dalgleish said.
Godspell, scored by acclaimed composer Stephen Schwartz, of Wicked! fame, tells the story of Jesus, and how his actions and words brought together and nurtured a small group of people into a vibrant community. It also tells the story of the betrayal of Jesus, his subsequent death and the way his followers thrived after his death.
Performances were held at the Newtown Church on September 10, 11, 17 and 18.
