IN light of the announcement made on Friday that the tour of Godspell in Concert is being brought to a premature close and will no longer visit Darlington Civic Theatre on May 21 to May 23, this feels more like an obituary than a review. A shame, but on the strength of Sunday’s misconceived, over-produced and over-amplified production, totally understandable.

To turn Godspell, a musical of almost naïve simplicity, into some sort of X-Factor- emulating pop concert, is bizarre enough, but when all the ingredients for a proper, stand-alone production are all there – good actors, set, costumes, choreography – it suggests someone has failed to trust the material. And Godspell should be trusted – the songs are fresh as ever, as Leanne Jarvis’ heart-warming delivery of Day by Day demonstrated – and who would question the integrity of the plot?

The acting company of ten, led by Tom Senior’s charming, watchful and teacherly Jesus, created an excellent and inventive ensemble, lending humour and a lively child-like simplicity to the telling of the parables. But they needed desperately to be freed from the cumbersome, ever-present hand-held microphones and given full rein of the stage. Their singing was excellent and Dominique Planter’s movingly sung By My Side a highlight.

A cold auditorium didn’t help – had someone switched off the heating or left the back doors open? – and a 35-minute interval caused by the indisposition of X-Factor runner-up, Andy Abraham, rather summed up the evening. Godspell will resurrect, but Godspell in Concert, RIP.

Laurence Sach