What if Jesus Christ was born gay in modern day Texas, instead of all those centuries ago?
Terrence McNally’s play, “Corpus Christi,” starts with this intriguing premise. Disappointingly, the playwright seems only half-interested in pursuing it ,and the Aux Dog Theatre’s new production has mixed success making McNally’s confused, muddle of a play resonate.
Despite receiving scorn from many religious groups when the play first opened in 1998, “Corpus Christi” is actually a fairly straightforward retelling of the Christ story, from birth to Last Supper to Crucifixion.
In McNally’s version, however, Jesus is a young boy growing up in Corpus Christi, Texas and discovering his homosexuality, much like McNally did once.
During the prologue, an actor proclaims that “some say this story can never be told enough.” However, McNally’s play is Christ’s tale as it is always told, and the play is often indistinguishable from how it might appear on a Sunday school stage.
The playwright develops this idea in fascinating moments throughout the play. Seeing Jesus preside over a marriage between two men and then slap a rabbi angered by this “blasphemy” provokes a lot of thought and makes for good theater. However, these moments are too few in the play, and what remains is a simple retreading of a familiar tale.
While the direction is competent and clear, the acting varies. Most of the all-male cast of actors play several roles, with the exception of the actors who play Joshua (Jesus’s modern alias) and Judas.
Joshua Ball plays the Son of God and is adept at the traditional Jesus, believable in his moments of both innocence and compassion. Unfortunately, in the moments when Jesus lashes out or does anything we don’t expect, Ball seems to be playing a different character rather than a growing one.
Garrick Milo makes for an intriguing, sympathetic Judas, yet he’s largely shortchanged by the script. His scenes are too few and his romance with Jesus is undeveloped.
The rest of the cast struggles to entertain at times. McNally injects a lot of awkward comedy into the tale, and the actors make some of these moments sing, but other times they only grate.
When the play reaches its zenith — Joshua’s crucifixion — most of the actors opt for the overly dramatic. It largely rings false.
Though we’re introduced to Joshua’s many apostles and see them through the good times and the bad, they don’t ever quite feel like real human beings. When tragedy strikes, the wailing begins, and it comes off as melodrama rather than actual torment.
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The design of the production, though sensible, leaves something to be desired. The stage is mostly bare save for some chairs, benches and tables brought on as needed. Prop tables and costume racks are onstage at the play’s beginning and remain throughout.
Strips of brown fabric hang across the stage walls, but they are too vague to add much to any locale.
At first, seeing the actors transform into their respective characters within view on the stage is a very interesting effect. As the play continues, the prop tables and costume racks only distract, making each location feel less real.
Ultimately, “Corpus Christi” is disappointingly familiar. The play it could have been is there for all to see. It is a story of a Jesus Christ, born in Texas, growing up as he discovers his divinity and homosexuality, and it could have been fantastic theater.
But it is a routine dramatization of Jesus Christ’s story as it has been told thousands of times before.
Aux Dog’s production of “Corpus Christi” largely follows the playwright’s lead, settling for a comfortable, Sunday-school-theater experience, and only occasionally trying to be a unique, memorable story of its own.
*
Corpus Christi*
by Terrence McNally
Aux Dog Theatre
3011 Monte Vista Blvd N.E.
Runs through July 3rd
Thurs., Fri. & Sat. 7:30 pm, & Sun. 2 p.m.
General Admission $16, $12 for students
