The secret's out - we know his name - welcome Ferdy!
Or to give him his full title - Ferdinand Kingsley, the man who would be - no will be - God! (And Jesus and the Holy Ghost)Damian introduces him to the ensemble and we go round saying our names. Poor man looks a little bemused as he's told he'll be tested later. He looks very like the popular notion of Jesus with his dark hair and beard and he's slim and slight. But he's also God and I hear his voice ring out as he intervenes in the human story:
Lo here, I say a maiden soon
Here on this mould where mankind dwell
Shall clear conceive and bear a son
And name his name Emmanuell'
It's a moment to cause shivers down the spine and as rehearsals continue, there are more and more of them.
It's been a busy week for the Carpenters - four rehearsals for me and I can sense the time approaching when my fellow cast members are going to feel like family. We've made a bit of progress this week and I've worked on the flood for the first time.
We were all told to choose a cloak type garment, labelled small, medium and large and in colours of blue, grey and green. You put your head through the hole in the top, hold your arms out and grab onto the next person in line. I stand on Square E5, having entered through yellow 2. Then you duck your head under the next person's garment, do a bit of arm waving, ducking and weaving - and with any luck, it looks like an amazing, all conquering flood from the audience's point of view!
The Herod scenes are really coming together. Here's a picture from Saturday's rehearsal when Herod is getting really grumpy...
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He hates it when people disobey him.
