Onarole On A Roll
Andy Fawthrop
The Devizes Arts Festival is now in full swing. On Day 5 it was time for the first theatre offering of this year’s programme. Onarole (geddit?) Theatre were in the Corny Bin in the shape of Jonathan Darby to present a four-scene one-hander entitled “Jesus My Boy”. It was written by John Dowie, directed by Chris Jaeger, and was originally performed by Tom Conti.
Here we had a different take, a very different take, on the traditional bible stories probably familiar to all those there present. It was very much a sideways look from the point-of-view of Jesus’ father Joseph, played as a slightly inept carpenter, a good Jew, an ordinary man simply looking to keep his head down and himself out of trouble. He recounted, with down-to-earth good humour and some laugh-out-loud assertions, the beginning of his slightly hen-pecked relationship with a very determined and single-minded Mary, progressing through a harrowing but amusing child-birth scene, right through to the crucifixion and its aftermath.
Much of the humour stemmed from Joseph’s insistence on debunking the many myths, or apocryphal stories, taken for granted and repeated in the Bible. There was never going to be any room at the inn (it was the only one in town) and he simply forgot to book. The Torah is not, in fact, a long a complex document – it can be taught in one sentence whilst standing on one leg. And stoning adulterers and blasphemers is not as straightforward as you might have thought.
But away from the amusing anecdotes (Jesus is better at carpentry than his father, Mary packed way too much stuff before setting off for Bethlehem, and the almost Pythonesque squabbling between the different Judean sects), there was much that was harrowing to listen to, not least the detailed description of the prolonged, vindictive and agonising death brought about by crucifixion.
Jonathan Darby’s performance, to my eyes and ears at least, was pitch-perfect. His rapid movement between comedy and tragedy, humour and pathos, was a thing to behold. The audience sat enraptured, and the hour-long performance seemed to simply whizz by. It was moving, beautiful, religious, political and very human all at the same time.
Yet again, hats off to the Arts Festival for bringing this really excellent performance to the town.
The Devizes Arts Festival continues at various venues around town until Saturday 17th June.
Tickets can be booked at Devizes Books or online at www.devizesartsfestival.org.uk
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