Lincoln High School Drama Dept.

Godspell

Set & Lighting Design by Jon Ares.

November 1998.

Directed by Jim Peerenboom.

The overall concept for this production was innocence. The opening moments (Prologue/”Tower of Babel”) had scenery of chain-link fence, graffiti-covered sheet metal, and basic dirt and grime. Pretty much how most concepts for this show go.

But the magic for this show happened at the end of the Prologue, during “Prepare Ye The Way of the Lord,” when the chain link fences and grimy buildings spun around to reveal a safe, warm preschool setting. The preschool was filled with toys and over-sized building blocks that became the props and set pieces for the telling of the parables.

The premise continued to specify Jesus as a new teacher in the preschool — after all, didn’t everyone crucify their preschool teacher? At the end, Judas returns with the “parents” and they assemble the once-innocent wooden blocks into the blood-red crucifix that has Jesus’ name all over it.