The Man Jesus starring Simon Callow 
The Palace Theatre - 19th September 2014

As soon as I heard that Simon Callow was going to be performing in Southend, I knew I had to grab a ticket.  He has to be one of this country’s finest actors, fondly known for his much loved character Gareth in Four Weddings and a Funeral but also for his one man shows such as The Importance of Being Oscar, The Mystery of Charles Dickens and most recently Being Shakespeare.

A friend of mine went to see Being Shakespeare and when I asked him what he thought of the production he said that he had found it rather disappointing.  I watched the television screening of it a few months ago and thought it was wonderful.  It made me understand Shakespeare and his words more and made me want to explore Shakespeare and his works in more detail.  

And so, on to The Man Jesus, Callow’s latest one man show.  Callow doesn’t actually play Jesus in the play.  The idea is to see him through the eyes of all the other 12 characters he portrays; the first one being Mary, Jesus’s mother.  Callow gives her a northern accent which I find a little strange but hey, let’s roll with it.  Then Judas, he’s Scottish. Simon, the fisherman from Galilee, I think he’s from Liverpool. I did start to wonder whether this was just becoming an ‘Around the British Isles with Simon Callow’ showcase at one point.  Then again, I suppose it would have been pretty dull if everyone that Jesus came into contact with had the same accent.  Bad enough, that the most common name in those days was Jesus, so you wouldn’t want too much of the same.  Having so many Jesus’s was also a good opportunity for a small gag, in fact there are a few lighter moments within the play which the audience seemed to be quite relieved about.  The play, however, is not a sycophantic sermon about what a wonderful man Jesus was.  We are given a ‘warts and all’ picture of the man who was, just that, a man.  

The first act, I must admit, did leave me feeling as if something were lacking, so I really hoped that Act 2 would come up trumps and win me over.  It started with what I thought was a pretty good sound effect from behind me in the dress circle - a huge clap of thunder.  Only it wasn’t an effect, it was real and while Mr Callow carried on like the true professional he is, the auditorium gradually become a quietly chaotic frenzy as the thunder got louder, the rain poured harder and finally as the roof started to leak rainwater on the occupants of the first row of the dress circle, people were forced to creep out and find a seat towards the back of the theatre.  I can only assume that a similar occurrence was happening in the stalls.  Ironically, one of Simon Callow's lines was "you've lost your audience" and he nearly did with so many people moving their seats to avoid getting dripped on.

Well, with all this ‘hoo ha’ going on, one really had far too many distractions and even if Mr Callow had been performing an award winning Bafta performance down there, I don’t think many of us could have truly appreciated it.  I’m sure it must have been a huge relief for everyone all round when the play finally came to its conclusion. 

My view is that this is one of those plays that really needs to be seen close up.  A smaller studio setting would have been perfect and I have a feeling that if this were to be televised, as Being Shakespeare was, that it would be appreciated so much more.  You really need to be able to really sit and watch, concentrate and listen to this hugely talented actor and then, I feel, you will be more likely to get a true sense of what this play is about.  

I really hope that not too much damage has been done at The Palace Theatre. There’s nothing like a storm of biblical proportions going on outside, when you're watching a play about Jesus!  God certainly does work in mysterious ways.