Cotton Patch Gospel
Lamb’s Players Theatre’s first production of Cotton Patch Gospel began in October of 1981 and ran for 193 performances. It’s not hard to see why: the musical sets the story of Jesus in the mid-20th-century rural South, such that the religious authorities who are scandalized by and ultimately plot to destroy Jesus are ostensible Christians. Original Jesus was forever castigating the Jewish Pharisees for their obsession with worldly authority and rules, even as they neglected the love and mercy commanded by the God who gave them their raison d’etre. But here, Jesus is challenging the very folks who signed up for his spirit-filled alternative to all that institutional rot, only to become the institution themselves. (Here, “Johnny” reminds Mary that he has to be about his Father’s business after attending a Sunday school convention.)
The message was solid: dear Christians, please don’t forget Christ. And the timing was spot on: Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority was an ascendant political entity, celebrity televangelists were amassing enormous fortunes, and here was Jesus, reminding folks that he did not come to found a political party, and was not interested in places of honor or storing up treasures on earth. Now? Well, a bunch of Republican presidential candidates did sit down with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson at a recent meeting of the Family Leadership Conference, but even so, it’s hard to see Christianity in the timeof the Nonesas the kind of dominant cultural force it was 40 years ago. (Though it’s as good a time as any to hear a song about turning the other cheek and loving your enemies.)
As a result, the play comes off less as a stinging rebuke and more as a friendly rework that makes the old story new — well, newer. “You are the salt on the ham, the light on the porch!” The miracle of loaves and fishes as saltines and sardines, the Last Supper with a moon pie and Grape Ne-Hi. What makes it engaging, and perhaps enduring, is the music: bluegrass and folk, delivered with emotion and expertise by the three-person cast and the fine four-person band.
When
Ongoing until Sunday, August 20, 2023
Hours
| Sundays, 1pm |
| Fridays, 7pm |
| Saturdays, 7pm |