A scene from the musical production, 'Jesus 2000', which had jam-packed audiences in April of that year. - File Photo JESUS 2000, The Greatest Love Of All, Nightwork and God Has A Sense Of Humour Too - Expose Dem Lawd are Christian plays that have hit the local theatre scene in recent times. From all indications they can be quite successful.
The plays usually cover a variety of themes affecting Christendom and seem to be popular with both Christians and non-Christians.
The Greatest Love Of All is about a family in which the father dies, leaving two children and his wife. The son is forced to leave home by his mother and he winds up on the streets of New Kingston, where he eventually starts to take cocaine. The son is rescued by a pastor who helps him to find God's love, which is the greatest love of all. He, however, has a hard time converting the rest of his family.
Recently, Hugh King's Nightwork focused on a troubled Christian marriage, while the musical Jesus 2000 told the story of the Jesus' life.
"People are looking for something fresh which gets to the heart of life and with the message of hope in the midst of the struggle," explained Reverend Wynton Williams, a musical arranger with Father Ho Lung and Friends, the organisation responsible for Jesus 2000 and several other Christian plays.
He added that the demand was more than they could handle for Jesus 2000, as the play was extremely popular and had a lengthy run. From all indications, it was a success as it did well at the box office and received several Actor Boy nominations. The play has also toured overseas to good reception.
However, 'Jesus 2000' is not the only Christian play to have had a successful run.
Ruth Samuels, producer of 'The Greatest Love of All', told The Gleaner that the play has been fairly successful since it opened this year. She added that stagings outside the Corporate Area were being planned, following a fairly successful run in Kingston. Ms. Samuels said the play has attracted a mainly non-Christian audience, which was pleased with the production.
"We were running for three months and right now we are on a pause and preparing for the country run. Regular theatre people turned up to see the production, which was held at the Green Gables," Ms. Samuels said.
She adds that the main reason Christian plays are a success is due to their reflection of everyday life.
The fans naturally have their perspective on the plays' success.
Twenty-four- year-old Dave explained that the Christian plays were good forms of family entertainment. He adds that most, if not all, of the productions were suitable for children.
"I don't have to worry about what my nephew will hear, since the plays are clean in terms of dialogue and action as well," he said.
Dave has seen 'God Has A Sense Of Humour Too', 'Jesus 2000' and, more recently, 'Nightwork'.
However, the producers of Christian plays acknowledge that they, just like the secular variety, can be costly to put on. 'Jesus 2000' was said to have cost in excess of $1 million to stage, while 'The Greatest Love of All' cost more than $100,000.
"It actually costs more than the $100,000, but that was all we had to spend so we had to spend it," Ms. Samuels said.
In the case of 'Jesus 2000', Rev. Williams explained that the play was expected to cost $2.5 million but sponsorship and volunteers brought the production down to $1 million mark.
