CORPUS CHRISTI
by Terrence McNally
Produced by Confetti Stage, February 2007.
Directed by Neilson Jones
Lighting and Sound Design by Tony Tambasco
Cast
Joshua .... Nate Beynon
Thomas, et al. .... Katherine Buckley
Peter, et al. .... Tia Crawford
Thaddeus, et al. .... Randy Harlow
Judas .... Steve Henel
Andrew, et al. .... Jeff Hocking
Simon, et al. .... Michael Long
John, et al. .... Carolyn Maroney
James the Less, et al. .... Valerie Portanova
Philip, et al. .... Jeremy Ward
Crew
Director .... Neilson Jones
Asst. Director .... Tia Crawford
Stage Manager .... Jillian M. Dion
Lighting & Sound Design .... Tony Tambasco
Scenic Coordination .... Neilson Jones
Costume Coordination .... Krista Thomson
Website & Poster Design .... TriUnity Design
Program Design .... Jeremy Ward
Properties Master .... Neilson Jones
Publicity & Marketing .... Ovella Snow
Once you get passed the vulgar label of "The Gay Jesus Play," Terrence McNally's Corpus Christi is a philosophically faithful portrayal of Jesus as an American, specifically grounded in the free love of the late 1960s. The music of The Beatles was an obvious choice to help tell the story of a man who tries to help the world let go of their hate.
This concept evolved into a more general pop music evolution as the times change within the world of the play. As the teenage innocence of Joshua's (McNally's name for the Jesus character) life evolves from the late 60s through the seventies and early 80s, the music evolves from The Beatles to The Bee Gees and The Bangles.
The physical locations of the play, ranging from a seedy motel, a prom dance, a disco, The Upper Room, the garden of Gethsemane, and Golgotha. The flash and glammor of the key locations of the earthly world contrast sharply with the moments of serenity that Joshua finds with his apostles.
Something that struck me, as a lighting designer, about Corpus Christi is that McNally doesn't tell Jesus' story as one of resurection and triumph, but as one of loss and sacrifice. Joshua's sacrifice is in spending his life trying to show a better way of living, and any redemption the audience finds after his death is from trying to better live the lessons he has taught us. Since McNally's focus is on the blood and brutality, the devil's (James Dean) temptation of Joshua and the cucifiction were heavy in reds. I used deeper blues and lower levels to contrast this for Joshua's moments of peace with his apostles, and for the more earthly moments stuck to a light yellow.
Sound Cue Sheet: My sound cues.
The Voice of God: God talks to Joshua at several points in the play; this sample is from the first of those. Not wanting it to come across as heavy handed, I used some light synthesizers to underscore the voice, which is performed by one of the female cast members and then digitally altered to give it the effect of being heard over a mediocre cell phone connection. Even when God speaks most clearly, there's bound to be some static; children rarely want to hear what their parents have planned for their lives.