Teen brings gravitas to ambitious staging

Review: Son of Jesse

Brenton Stacey
Public relations officer
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

Avondale College senior music lecturer Dr Robb Dennis and alumni Andrew Taylor, making his directorial debut, and Kristin Thiele deserve credit for their successful staging of Son of Jesse. With both writers of the musical—Adrian Bell and Associate Professor Daniel Reynaud, dean of the Faculty of Arts at Avondale—in the large audience for the Australian premiere, the producer and his drama directors must have felt added pressure.

Son of Jesse is Associate Professor Daniel Reynaud and former colleague Adrian Bell’s re-telling of the story of David. Daniel, dean of the Faculty of Arts, and Adrian wrote the musical in 1981 before revising it in 1983. The anachronisms in this version—a TV newsreader as narrator (Adventist Media Network’s David Gibbons), two psychiatrists discussing King Saul’s health (Eldon Rosenberg and Daniel Laredo), a hip-hop-styled Absalom talking on his mobile phone (Raul Moran) and a boxing gloved-clad Goliath (Robb Dennis)—brought humour to the story. Avondale staff members and students played most of the roles. Their acting skills: solid.

Technical problems—particularly with microphones—and the ambitious bringing-to-life of the whole story of David meant the musical lacked a dramatic arc. The strongest scene—The Ark—featured the two best actors. The argument between David (17-year-old Justin Watson) and his wife Michal (Vivienne Calwell) spilled out into the congregation, further exposing the human frailties of the characters. Justin showed confidence and maturity in his acting and singing, bringing gravitas to the leading role.

Andrew and Kristin made clever use of Avondale College Seventh-day Adventist Church, particularly the brick bays in the balcony as the setting for many of David’s speeches.

Avondale Chamber Orchestra provided seamless backing for Avondale Singers. The chorus’s final, triumphant “Jesus!” still rings in my ears.