[NEohioPAL] A Review of Heads Up Productions' "Corpus Christie"

[Jeff Holland]

A Letter to Any and All Protesters (Past, Present, and Future) of the play Corpus Christie by Ike

So Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, Herne, and Tiamat all walk inta a bar...
 


Okay, now that I got your attention, howdy!  Ya don't know me, and if ya did most a ya probably wouldn't want ta, and I'm fine with that.  Love everybody, that's what Jesus taught, right?  I know he didn't want people killin' for him, but that's a debate for another day.
 
So let's talk the "gay Jesus" play.  Ever since the show premiered, the writer's gotten death threats, the-aters that have done it have gotten bomb threats (Now THAT'S Christ like) and, of course, there've been picketers.  Now I ain't sayin' ya don't have a right ta picket (Cause ya do) but it would be nice if ya actually knew somethin' about what ya were protestin'.
 
True story:  Many years ago the limey was doin' some work for Interpol and I was wastin' time doin' a little actin'.  I got cast in a production a Corpus Christie.  We had ta move to a different the-ater the week we opened, and we got picketed, but here's a funny thing.  We had folks (Gay and straight) comin' up ta us afterwards with tears in their eyes, sayin' they felt closer ta God. We even had one a the protesters come see the show the last night and they LOVED it.
 
Far as I'm concerned, that ends any and all debate about the show right there.
 
But there's a new production a the show bein' done this week-end from a kinda new company called Heads Up Productions, and it's bein' done at the First Grace United Church of Christ.  Now there are SOME people who apparently don't have an issue with the play, but they have an issue with the timin'.  I'll get ta that in a minute.
 
Here are a couple a things ya should know before ya protest the show:
 
1.  Jesus does NOT have sex with any of the disciples on stage.  I've seen this said several times when folks rag on the show and THAT DOES NOT HAPPEN.  If ya been told it does, you're bein' lied to.
 
2.  The play is NOT SET in Biblical times.   It's set in modern day Texas (There's a really good joke there, but I ain't doin' it).  In fact, the show starts with the actors gettin' their roles.  It is not meant ta be the definitive version of this story.  It is meant ta be one of many, and there have been many, and several of them have sucked...just sayin'.
 
3.  The show is indeed a bit vulgar, but it is in NO WAY sacrilegious.  If it was, all of the deeply religious folks who saw the production I was in wouldn't have walked out (at the end) cryin' and feelin' closer ta God...end of argument.
 
This production, directed by Benjamin Rexroad, does one major thing differently from the one I was in.  He cast women in the roles of Joshua (Jesus) and Judas, played by Amy Spencer and Kim Woodworth respectively and both of these women give Oscar winnin' performances as men. Amy gives the most realistic performance of Jesus (Joshua) that I have ever seen PERIOD, and by that I mean that at the end you're not cryin' cause ya just watched the Son of God die for our sins, you're cryin' because ya just watched a warm, carin' person that you genuinely care about REALIZE that he is the Son of God and WILLINGLY die for our sins.  Her scenes with Woodworth are a joy to watch.  In fact, the entire cast is first rate, but I gotta give a special shout out ta TJ Jozsa, who played the amazin'ly creepy guy in our horror short Skeletons.  His turn as a high school girl is absolutely hysterical.
 
And ya know what?  Far as I'm concerned, this show, usin' few props and no special effects, is ten times more powerful than the torture porn that was Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ cause this isn't just about his death, it's about his LIFE!  Ya see the joy that Joshua (Jesus) brought ta his followers, ya FEEL it (And that is in no small part due to Spencer's portrayal), and that makes his end a million times more painful ta watch.
 
All I'm sayin' is this, protesters, know what you're picketin' and do it for the right reasons.  Do what the brave soul did at the show I was in...see it.  If it offends ya, then leave and protest away (It's your God given right, after all) but ya just might see somethin' that genuinely moves ya, that brings ya closer ta God, like it did for the audiences of my show and the audience I saw it with tonight.  I have never been emotionally moved by a play before (Heck, I rarely get emotionally moved by anythin') and this show did it.  I felt a little closer ta God tonight, and I think he's fine with that.  It's the message that's most important, right?
 
And ta those people who think this is the wrong time ta do the show, I respectfully put forth that this is the perfect time ta do the show, for what is this time but a chance for all of us to feel closer ta God.
 
And ya can disagree with me, and I'm fine with that.
 
Jesus would be, too.
 
NOTE:  Corpus Christie will be performed tomorrow and Saturday at 7pm.  Tickets are $5.00 at the door or ya can make reservations by callin' 330-990-5138
 
NOTE 2:  If any a ya have been wonderin' what we've doin', we've got two seasons of a pretty successful webseries, we've won three contests (One for comedy videos and two for horror) and we've got a podcast on itunes.  And we're kinda big over in the UK and Australia and...actually a lot of other countries..and we're actually makin' a little money now (LITTLE bein' the operative word, but it's growin')  Only reason I'm even postin' this on here is cause, if ya can, ya really should see this show (And I know it's gonna annoy a couple of people :-)
 
Namaste
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