It’s that time of year again, where Christmas comes early to theatreland. While across town Nativity!The Musical is trying to drum up sales by throwing Danny Dyer into the mix, The Rep has been blessed with a talented trinity to bring forth an old play before it makes its way to the theatrical Bethlehem that is the West End.

Patrick Barlow’s The Messiah is about two actors and an opera singer attempting to re-enact a new adaption of the famous nativity. Misremembering lines and a myriad of cock-ups get in the way, in this rather farcical production. With a mixture of comedic theatre and music, there is a balanced blend of entertainment to be found.

Unfortunately, as with most commercial shows, it plays it safe, often choosing easy laughs rather than pushing for something more intelligent. Jokes don’t really land when you can see them coming a mile away. I found myself thinking “That music is going to interrupt him again”, or “He’s going to cock up that line in a silly way like he did the last ten times”, rather than regularly being surprised by the comedic offerings. While there were some moments that did make me chuckle, these were few and far between, which was disheartening given the talent brought on board for this project.

In terms of performance the entire ensemble work their hardest to make everything pack a punch. And while the content doesn’t always land, they deliver it in a way that makes it enjoyable even if it only garners a small smile. But when reruns of Mock The Week have more entertainment value than a fully-fledged stage show, you know something has gone wrong.

I’ve come to realise that this kind of show is an alternative to the pantomime: a form of entertainment that seems to be losing its grasp on audiences. While this show isn’t a kick in the teeth like last year’s Christmas show that shall not be named, The Messiah smacks of wasted opportunity. This Holy Trinity of performers are capable of so much, but are let down by the quality of writing, something that this Scrooge complains about time and time again. Birmingham is being starved of quality writing at the moment. What I want to know is when will there be a rebellion, an attempt to bring something meatier, something riskier into the theatre? But I guess while easy shows put bums on seats that revolution won’t be coming for a long while.

★★★☆☆    Jeremy Ulster   23 October 2018