Praise the Lord and Pass the Chili Dogs!
Cotton Patch Gospels
Reviewed by Melanie Jennings

Cotton Patch Gospel at the Lamb’s Players Theatre of Coronado


www.lambsplayers.org.

Pictured (L-R): Ryan Drummond, Rick D. Meads, and Mark Christopher Lawrence in foreground, Ken Dow in background

Cotton Patch Gospel, the newest offering from Coronado’s Lamb’s Players Theatre and director and choreographer Deborah Gilmour Smyth, can only be called inspirational. A retelling of the gospels set in rural, somewhat modern, Georgia, three actors (Ryan Drummond, Mark Christopher Lawrence, and Rick D. Meads) play a variety of roles ranging from Joseph, Mary, and Satan, to tele-evangelists on the Praise My Soul network (PMS for short and particularly hilarious for those of you know who know what PTL means). Music and lyrics by Harry Chapin cleverly tell Jesus³s story as a cotton-patch prophet, all the while provoking giggles and guffaws from the audience.

The opener, "Somethin’s Brewin’ in Gainesville," provides a rousing, upbeat sequence in which Mark Christopher Lawrence steals the show upon his entrance. Next, we’re told of the virgin birth. "Joe," a Georgia hayseed with a humpback and baseball cap, thinks long and hard before marrying his girl, Mary, who’s become pregnantºseemingly and miraculously without the benefit of copulation, not to mention matrimony. When Joe doubts if he should marry her, an angel appears and tells him Mary’s the one, and to boot, she’s going to bear the son of God. When Mary goes into labor while riding into town, Joe stops and tries finding a room at the inn. A new star is seen in the east and three wise men go a-lookin’ for the baby.

As Jesus matures, the townsfolk realize he may be a little touched. His own (earthly) father is miffed by his son’s rejection of the traditional church and scolds Jesus for insulting the town’s preacher. Not to be stopped, Jesus is then tested by "Daddy" (God) and sent into the woods for forty days and nights without food or water ("Man doesn’t live by grits alone" is one of the gems from this scene). Rick D. Meads³s interpretation of Jesus in the first half is appropriately innocent yet mature as his character comes to understand his place in history. After Jesus passes his test, he is rewarded with a bag of chili dogs.

Jesus recruits Matthew (working for the IRS) and John (baptizing folks down at the river), among other disciples. As they accompany Jesus in his work, we are treated to sometimes hilarious reinterpretations of characters and stories. Take, for example, John the Baptist, a fire-and-brimstone preacher complete with the cadence, hand gestures, and tortured breathing of your worst Pentecostal service nightmare. As the disciples walk with the Lord, they are taught his most important lessons. Again we get funny rehashes of Jesus’s familiar lessons of the lilies in the field, turning the other cheek, and the Golden Rule, to name a few. (When he explained that it would be easier for a pig to fit through a knothole than the rich to join his cause, I nearly choked with laughter). He performs the miracles of walking on water and feeding thousands from only scraps of food. While Jesus’s media buzz among the masses grows stronger each day, his constant exposure of the hypocrisy of the church and its leaders makes him rather unpopular with those in power. A truly lovely moment arrives in the form of the song, "When I Look Up," a gorgeous number with overlapping harmonies. The cast seemed to enjoy singing it as much as the audience did listening to it. Now is a fine time to mention that the accompanying band that made this production possible—The 7th Day Buskers were simply perfect.

The second half is far less upbeat, as you can imagine. How could Jesus’s persecution, betrayal, and ultimate death (watch out for the KKK) be anything but a downer? Yet more than that, somewhere in the second half, the cast, the choreography, or the script seemed to lose a little steam. Luckily, Jesus is resurrected and delivers his message of salvation just in time.

Overall, Cotton Patch Gospel is a delight. Scenic designer, Mike Buckley, used space wisely and creatively, allowing the players room to move and spaces in which to heighten the drama of certain scenes (although there was a conspicuous absence of cotton on stage). Director Gilmour Smyth’s decision to use three actors instead of one allowed the audience to see what Drummond, Lawrence, and Meads could do with the many, many characters each man played. The Lamb’s Players Theatre deserves recognition for this funny, yet moving interpretation of Jesus’s life.

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