Jesus Christ Superstar The Concert – Open Air Theatre Regent’s Park

Pepe Nufrio in Jesus Christ Superstar The Concert at the Open Air Theatre Regent’s Park, London. Picture: Mark Senior

Jesus Christ Superstar The Concert continues at the Open Air Theatre Regent’s Park, London until 27 September 2020.

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar is musical theatre’s most unlikely unifier. Though it did encounter some controversy on its 1971 premiere, it has now been embraced by the public and all but the stuffiest of critics alike. Who would have predicted this for a piece that tells the story of Jesus’s crucifixion from the point of view of history’s most hated villain: Judas Iscariot?

Perhaps it is some Christian spirit of forgiveness and acceptance that has allowed the show to flourish, but surely some credit must go to its cheeky biblical satire and the undeniably rocking score. Those electric guitars and thundering rock drums were a revelation in British musicals and have influenced stage composers to look to popular music for inspiration ever since.

In summer 2020, when actors need jobs and theatres need revenue, there are few shows as well-positioned to pull in a crowd as this one. With the lockdown still very much in effect and with the recent uptick in Covid cases across Europe, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is taking no chances when it comes to audience and performer safety. The venue staff are incredibly helpful and guide each attendee through the new normal of one-way systems, temperature checks, distanced seating and compulsory masks.

This production’s primary goals are to give freelance theatre workers a much-needed gig and to demonstrate the magic that even socially distanced theatre can deliver. It succeeds on both fronts with aplomb. To maximise the show’s hiring power the major roles are double cast, meaning you can never be quite sure of which performer will be on at any given performance. Rest assured: if the other Jesus, Judas and Mary Magdalene are even half as wonderful as those I was lucky enough to see you are in for a thrilling show.

Being tasked with portraying Jesus Christ must be intimidating for any actor, let alone when that job also involves some of the trickiest vocal lines ever asked of a male singer in a stage musical. Pepe Nufrio gives a warm and deeply charismatic performance that highlights both the confidence and the anguish of the show’s interpretation of the Son of God.

The truly subversive element of the show is its portrayal of Judas as a man just as complex and sympathetic as Jesus himself. Ricardo Afonso is relatable and human – even at his moment of great treachery visibly suffering almost as much as the superstar of the show’s title. His songs are possibly even more challenging than Nufrio’s, but as a veteran of a great many rock musicals his powerful voice soars.

Maimuna Memon follows up her virtuosic, spooky performance in Boulevard Theatre’s exceptional 2019 Ghost Quartet with a sparkling take on Mary Magdalene. The character is somewhat underserved by Rice’s book, but Memon brings out the heart of one of the New Testament’s most fascinating characters and delivers a showstopping ’I Don’t Know How to Love Him’. She is an elevating presence in her every scene, even without the aid of the boys’ ostentatious high notes.

In fact, the entire cast of pharisees, disciples and lepers is without a single weak link. As virtually the only game in town, the producers clearly had a wide pool in which to fish for talent. Onstage action is limited by social-distancing rules, but a little ingeniousness of staging (choreography by Drew McOnie), metallic paint and glitter go a surprisingly long way. Director Timothy Sheader builds an atmosphere somewhat darker than many might expect for this show, while retaining the undercurrent of camp that is legally inseparable from the show’s genre-defying/ignoring score.

With its every performance, this production of Jesus Christ Superstar is proving that effective and affecting live theatre is still possible. Audiences may be a little more spread out – and depending on their luck with the weather, perhaps a little wetter – than before, but a convincing path out of these dark times is being forged.

All that is needed now is government support for theatres to manage this journey safely, without being forced to choose between a dangerously premature return to “normal” or redundancies and permanent closure.

Ian Bowkett