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By Steve Weatherbe
AVANT GARDE theatre aficionados in B.C. did not exactly beat down the doors to
see The Gospel of John.
A one-hour dramatization of the gospel attributed to the “disciple whom Jesus loved,” the play was not the usual fare at September’s Fringe Festivals in Victoria and Vancouver.
Victoria Times-Colonist reviewer Adrian Chamberlain commented: “If you’re in the mood for a sermon, this one is dispatched with commendable passion and
skill. But it’s a safe bet 99.9 percent of Fringe theatre goers are not looking for a Bible
reading.”
Calling it a square peg in a round hole, in the same breath as he commended
creator/performer Gary Boon’s “terrific” acting of many gospel personalities, Chamberlain concluded his schizophrenic
review by observing: “In the right context (how about a church?) it would be a four-star show.”
The reviewer for Monday Magazine took even more umbrage at the play’s presence in the Fringe.
Jessica Salloum called it “absolutely the most exciting and well-rehearsed sermon you’ll ever hear” – suggesting that she, too, does not know what a genuine sermon is. But she
panned the presentation for “lacking the quirky originality that theatregoers have come to expect from the
Fringe.”
Neither reviewer seemed aware of the irony involved in criticizing a Fringe
piece for departing from conventions.
Of course, the ‘conventional’ elements at Fringe festivals across Canada include routine profanity, casual
nudity and simulated sexual acts.
As the reviewers predicted, The Gospel of John indeed proved disappointing at the box office.
But England-based Boon, a veteran of the London stage and the 2008 Victoria
Fringe, was satisfied from both the artistic and spiritual perspectives.
Even those who are hostile to the message concede the power of Boon’s performance. As for those who are not hostile, the show can be a real
eye-opener.
“It’s quite a rare event to see the entire story of Jesus presented in one sitting,” said Boon. “In church usually you get it in fragments.” And onstage – at least on the London stage, he said – it’s been 30 years since anyone has attempted a one-man presentation of a gospel.
Though a friend gave Boon the idea, after he began casting about for a one-man
show idea to bring back to the Fringe after performing in Victoria last year, “loads of other friends” warned him off the notion.
And when he approached several directors to help him with the project, they were
nonplussed. “Why are you doing that?” he recalled them asking.
Nonetheless he did find a director who was gradually won over – by the strength of the material itself, said Boon, as well as by his
performance. “We spent many, many hours in discussing particular scenes. Though he knew the
story, he still found it fresh.”
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Audiences should too, if Boon continues offering the presentation after his
Fringe experience.
Boon exemplified the minimalist style of budget-strapped Fringe production – by appearing without a costume, and with a handful of props. He relied on spare
but powerful gestures, and a variety of British accents – to portray individual apostles, Pharisees and members of the Sanhredrin,
Pontius Pilate, the women of the gospel and Christ himself
He also played elements. His incarnation of the storm that nearly drowns the
disciples was particularly effective.
A table served as John’s writing desk, the setting for the Last Supper, the boat in which the disciples
nearly drowned, Pilate’s judgement seat, the cross Jesus carried to Calvary and Calvary itself.
Boon spoke at times with passionate intensity, and at times with an instructor’s care – for example, in his illuminating reading of John’s prologue,
Relying on the King James and Tyndale translations, Boon also incidentally
demonstrated the superior power of English from the Age of Faith over
contemporary versions. “Tyndale wrote with the idea of it being spoken aloud. At that time in England
everything was in Latin.”
Boon chose John’s gospel because it is his favorite. The prologue especially speaks to him, he
said, with the message that everyone “can be pure in Him.”
Though he didn’t attract the numbers he’d hoped for, Boon had several meaningful one-on-one encounters with members of
the audience who were moved by his show.
“Even one would make it worthwhile,” he said.
October 2009
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