Soul meets Sophocles

 

A student production of the Broadway oratorio The Gospel at Colonus will be staged April 6, 7 and 8 at the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall under the direction of Jeri Brown.

The Gospel at Colonus is an oratorio set in a black Pentecostal service, in which Greek myth replaces the Bible story. Conceived by Lee Breuer, it played on Broadway in the 1980s, and the original cast included Morgan Freeman and Five Blind Boys of Alabama, among others.

An exuberant mix of American gospel, jazz, rock and popular music, The Gospel at Colonus, is sung, acted, and preached by the characters. The preacher addresses the audience, and the choir serves as the onstage congregation.

The principals in this production include Rica Francois (Antigone), Valerie Gagnon (Ismene), Yves Aimes Pierre (Oedipus, the Singer), Chimwemwe Miller (Oedipus, the Preacher), Shannon Lynch (Creon). Jeri Brown’s Con Chords provide the Gospel Choir. The co-director is Diane Roberts, artist in residence in the Theatre Department, and the choreographer is Elizabeth Brooklyn.

The director, music professor Jeri Brown, played the role of Ismene, daughter of Oedipus, in the Canadian premiere in l998 in Nova Scotia. There were 28 performances of that production.

An essay by the Rev. Earl F. Miller, who performed in the Broadway production, explains the roots of this work:

“One of the main characteristics of black preaching is storytelling. In the past, there was a script that even those who were illiterate knew. The script was made up from the Bible stories, scriptures and songs that had been passed on.

“In a black church, the preacher has to get outside of himself, or in church language, let the spirit take control. In order for the people to judge the preacher's call to the ministry authentic, at some point in the sermon he has to lose his cool because he isn't supposed to be in charge anyway.

“The Gospel at Colonus uses the idea of re-imagining in a striking and original way. The concert presentation of this play is not meant to be Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, but to be new, derived from the original readings, different from it and yet true to its essential spirit, building on the genius of the past to create something wonderful for the present.”

The Gospel at Colonus will be presented April 6, 7 and 8, at 8 p.m. in the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall. See the Back Page for more information.