Liverpool Nativity: the morning after

I went to Liverpool Nativity yesterday in William Brown Street in Liverpool. It was quite an experience. I was very impressed with the acting and singing of Jodie McNee as Mary. Geoffrey Hughes did a good job as Gabriel, though he seemed lost occasionally. Jennifer Ellison sang well but messed up some of her lines.

I want to comment on Liverpool Nativity as a contribution to the cultural life of Liverpool. This was the first real event of Liverpool European Capital of Culture 2008 and I was thrilled that the year began with an affirmation of Christian faith. For the Biblical Christian the telling of the tale wasn't perfect, but it was well done. The identity of this miracle baby wasn't made very clear, though that's surely how it was in the early days of Jesus' life: people came to realise who he was through his words and actions and supremely though his resurrection.

Comments on this blog have said that the event was "blasphemous". I truly can't see anything blasphemous about Liverpool Nativity. This was a piece of drama staged by the BBC, a secular organisation, and it contributed to the Christian culture of our city. Wake up, people! This is something to celebrate, not to carp over. When would the church ever be able to stage a show as professional and expensive as this, and then get it shown live on national television? Christians should be praising this for what it was and what it did well, not looking for theological faults.

Liverpool Nativity is repeated on BBC ONE on Sunday 23rd at 10.45pm. Video it or watch it with some friends and then talk about what was good and not so good about it, and see where the conversation leads.

This blog is about conversation, so please do add a comment (you can do so as "anonymous" if you're not registered with Google). I will reply to the comments and I hope others will do so as well.

Liverpool Nativity tomorrow

Liverpool Nativity is coming to town tomorrow and I'm very excited about it. Despite what some paper columnists have said, it's going to be an authentic contemporary telling of the nativity story. The scale of it is impressive, with 500 people involved in cast and crew. Some of the cast are big names, while others are inspired choices. Jodie McNee and Kenny Thompson will be excellent as Mary and Joseph; Geoffrey Hughes as Gabriel seems to be just the right choice, even though quite a few others were approached to play the part before him.

But what concerns me here is how effective it will be as a piece of Christian communication. I believe it will hit all the right notes. It is faithful to the Bible accounts, retaining the miraculous, virginal conception and all the major characters. The magi appear at the stable with the shepherds, which isn't how it happened, but that has been artistic licence since Francis of Assisi.

The fact the the BBC have put time, effort and most of all money into this project is to be commended: well done BBC for not just giving us tales of snow and Santa. This Nativity is one to watch, to record and to savour.

Liverpool Nativity

The Liverpool Nativity is coming to Liverpool very soon.
Here's the press release: I'll be adding my thoughts and comments in my next post.

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Geoffrey Hughes, Cathy Tyson and Jennifer Ellison star in Liverpool Nativity (Sunday 16 December, 8pm, BBC Three) – a contemporary retelling of the Christmas story live on the streets of Liverpool. Far from being the simple story beloved of school plays throughout the world, this is a drama as fresh and relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago – the intimate, personal story of a pregnant young girl set against a backdrop of political tension and unrest. Geoffrey Hughes leads the cast as the Angel Gabriel, directing events as they unfold live in Liverpool city centre. Set in a fictional state, Herodia (Cathy Tyson), a paranoid minister, desperate to cling to power, orders a crackdown on immigration. Mary and Joseph (Jodie McNee and Kenny Thompson) are swept up in the drama as Joseph, an asylum seeker, is instructed to report to the nearest passport office. In the midst of this turmoil, Mary discovers she is pregnant and must fight to protect both Joseph and her unborn child. The hour-long production uses familiar songs from Liverpool’s great pop legacy to bring the story to life. Popular music from a wealth of Liverpool bands – The Beatles, The La’s, The Zutons and many more – is given a vibrant new twist and performed by characters in the drama and a live orchestra. The production also features a host of Liverpool celebrities including Jennifer Ellison as an angel; Paul Barber as the landlord and Andrew Schofield as one of the shepherds. BBC Three Controller, Danny Cohen says: “This is going to be a fantastic collaboration between the BBC and the city of Liverpool. I’m delighted with the cast in place, and can’t wait to see this major event on BBC Three.” This mammoth production involves over 300 cast and 150 technical crew and will be the springboard for Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture 2008. Liverpool Nativity has been developed by the team behind Manchester Passion and the two Flashmob operas and is supported by Liverpool Culture Company.

Free Thinking

The BBC's "Free Thinking" festival is in Liverpool this weekend, encouraging debate about "freedom", with various performances and activities. I like the idea of the "speed dating" event with a thinker: you spend a couple of minutes listening to someone explaining their Big Idea. It's an event that's worth supporting, and it's good that BBC Radio 3 have brought it back to Liverpool for a second year.
There's not enough about faith on the agenda, though: just one brief appearances by James Jones, Bishop of Liverpool, Prof Pillay from Hope University and maybe one other theologian. That's a poor showing by the Church who should be at the cutting edge of cultural engagement and serious thought about culture and society. I'm not blaming the organisers: if Christians were producing interesting work they would included, but they are still catching up with the secular "free thinking" world.

Martyn Joseph

I'm speaking to Martyn Joseph today about his new CD "Vegas". Martyn sent out an email to say that journalists weren't to call him a "Christian singer songwriter", just a "singer songwriter who happens to have a faith".

I know what he means: it's awful to be labelled and put in a box. Martyn doesn't want to be seen as a "CCM artist" in a narrow way. But should he be so sensitive about being called "Christian"? I don't see myself as someone who "happens to have a faith", but someone whose faith in Jesus is integral to all I do: my professional life and my personal life.

The CD by the way is glorious: gentle yet insistent, with songs that yearn for a better world whilst being committed to transforming this world. I love the song "coming down" and the anti-war anthem "the fading of light".

The way we do things round here

Archbishop Derek Worlock famously defined culture as "the way we do things round here". So this is a blog about culture, about what we "do round here" and the way we do it.
Specifically it's a blog about culture written from Liverpool, England, for the year 2008, when Liverpool is European Capital of Culture.
It's also a blog written from a Christian perspective, reflecting what's going on in Christian culture in Liverpool and beyond.
Come with me on the journey...