GODSPELL

that on, but we had a good crew to do it with.”

Roberts gave them exercises, instructions and maps, but for Roberts, nothing could be better than for the cast to learn on the fly –to see what is happening and try with their instincts, and to learn from their mistakes. “I really put the show in their hands,” he said. “They took on the roles and lived them on stage, and they made it their own.” Cast member senior Mei Hui de Velasco explained, “We put our creative spin on the show. It was our show, not a replication.”

Senior Benjamin Okoronkwo played the character of Jesus. “Playing the character of Jesus has been my hardest role,” he said. “I had to memorize so much scripture and then tell it like a story. And in the past, I’ve used flaws to make characters real, but there were no flaws.”

Okoronkwo spent time on his own digging deeper into the character of Christ. “Jesus is this person that is accessible to everyone,” he said. “I had to make that believable by getting to know the cast, especially Lizzy, who played Judas. We grew close – we even had hand signals and handshakes.”

Roberts saw some very mature performances from his cast members. “They took on the roles and lived them on stage. We created a really organic piece,” he said.