[Alabesque]

I saw Godspell for the first time yesterday, and in the production there was an old man in the cast. He didn't have any lines and he mostly stayed in the background, but Jesus hugged him during the communion scene and, after the crucifixion, when the rest of the cast carried Jesus out of the theater, he came center stage and cried as everyone else sang 'Long Live God.'

Is this man a normal character? If so, who exactly is he?

[Vichysois]

Not a normal character at all, at least in terms of the script -> the script/libretto of Godspell calls for 10 performers, all of whom have lines and solos in the songs and are active throughout the whole play.

Of course, directors can add a chorus, or trim the number of performers, or add performers. It's sort of hard to define "normal" for Godspell since there's a lot of wiggle room.

Sounds like that character was a contrivance of the director, possibly to embody/symbolize the main cast's intrusion into mainstream society, or otherwise just an everyman.

Or perhaps that particular theatre has an old hobo on whom they take pity and allow into productions...

[Robinflamingo]

Or maybe it was God.

[Vichysois]

...or Morgan Freeman...

[Alabesque]

[Vichysois]

Going off of robinflamingo's post....dunno why it didn't occur to me, but it could very well have been meant to be "God." The director might have been basing it on the Trinity Concept that Jesus is the "son" person of God....the old man in the production you saw could have been meant to be the Father.

[Robinflamingo]

[Baker]

Yeah, I think it was supposed to be God.

I really like this idea. You know what would be interesting? To have an old man upstage left and a little boy upstage right who just sit, probably elevated, and watch the whole show. To complete the trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

During "Long Live God" the old man would come center stage and cry, then exit, following the crowd down the aisle. Then when it becomes upbeat again, the little boy would follow, running down the aisle and beaming; then the other characters would run back up. Like the Holy Spirit has gone out into the world.

I don't know, I just like the concept of using the trinity. It would depend on your theme for the show though, I guess.

[Alabesque]

[Beagle On Stage]

I'm not sure why the holy spirit would be a little boy. Unless there was some kind of setup for it, the audience would not recognize that as a symbol for the holy spirit.

[Baker]

According to the trinity, God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are one - so it wouldn't matter which one was saying the lines. If Jesus is saying it, so is God and the Holy Spirit.

God is an old man and Jesus is typically portrayed as somewhere between 18 and 30 in a standard production of Godspell. A little boy would help represent the three basic stages of life.

[Tom]