New audio musical about Jacob created by Baptist minister
Mike Jackson hopes The Birthright will both entertain and help us ask questions of God who always responds in surprising and sometimes unsettling ways
The musical was recorded with actors, singers and musicians and emerged from a lockdown project after a glimpse of the workings of a hit West End show, Mike explains
My name is Mike and I am the minister of North Cheam Baptist Church in south London. I have two daughters and one son and my wife used to run her own dance school. The females in my family all share a love for singing and dancing, while the boys prefer playing bass and drums.
These influences synthesised when my youngest daughter was cast as Katie in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s West end production of School of Rock. The role required a talent for singing, dancing and playing the bass guitar; it was a role, one could say, she was born to play. During that run in 2019 I was privy to the chaos and energy of what goes to make a successful West End production, and it left quite an impression.
When Covid struck in 2020, like all church communities we were compelled to stop meeting and plans were hastily put together to transfer all our ministries online.
Music is an important part of our life together and so our musicians reverted to recording their music and sharing it online each Sunday. I was about to start a preaching series on Jacob and so I thought it may not be a bad idea to write some songs to accompany the themes of each message. I used to write sketches for a drama group as a teenager, and I have written songs for rock bands and produced soundtracks for conventions and independent films. I had a small studio at home and with the help of some very talented friends we remotely recorded a series of songs to accompany the series.
The process of writing songs about the characters in the story of Jacob enriched my understanding of the story in a way I was not expecting. When the series came to a conclusion I had to ask myself ‘what next?’
I considered Jacob’s tale, with its treachery and misunderstandings and felt it would be a great story to tell as a musical comedy. I got to work linking the songs with a script. Within a few months I had a script that seemed, to my mind, well-paced and funny enough to be entertaining. The Birthright was now a two act – two hour show and so the question I had to ask again was ‘what next?’
The thought of hiring a theatre or even a church to perform brand new show that nobody had heard of was, in my view, a risky and unattractive prospect. But I discovered that Chris Littler and Ellen Winter had written and recorded a ‘podcast musical’ in 2016. 36 questions has become a musical hit without even reaching a theatre, and so I thought about recording the show for people to listen to in their homes rather than paying to see in a theatre. Many of us use audiobooks and podcasts far more than we used to.
I assembled a small team of talented actors, singers and musicians to record the show. And now The Birthright - Jacob a Contender's Story is here to listen to as a four-part podcast. The show has its own website, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok accounts, and the music from the show is available on all streaming platforms.
But why Jacob? If I wanted to use the Bible as a basis for a show then there are far more ‘worthy’ candidates to choose. Jacob may not be an example we would seek to follow but that is precisely why Jacob is such a good character for modern audiences. TV and film are full of anti-heroes. From BBC’s Blackadder to Marvel’s Deadpool and Venom, anti-hero stories capture the imagination of modern audiences.
Jacob seems to be unique in Scripture as an anti-hero. He has little piety to speak of and he seems to learn very few lessons from the blessings given him by God. In many ways he’s just like us.
God’s treatment of Jacob leaves us itching. He receives multiple blessings on his journey despite his deceptions, and then God fights and wounds Jacob with a wound that doesn’t seem to heal. This baffling treatment has left scholars scratching their heads for centuries.
Rather than providing easy theological answers, the story of Jacob leaves us with questions: questions about God’s grace and the costs associated with following Him.
We have made much of the free gift of eternal life proclaimed in the Gospel. But when I look at the heroes of faith it’s far from a life with easy answers.
On the website there is a section for people to go deeper and ask questions. I have produced a preaching resource for churches who may like to use the songs in the show as a guide for their own studies on the subject and it is available on request.
I hope that you find the The Birthright an enjoyable piece of entertainment. The podcast is free, so tell your friends.
But more than that, I hope it will help us to ask questions of God who always responds in surprising and sometimes unsettling ways.
Links
Mike Jackson is the minister of North Cheam Baptist Church
Baptist Times, 25/09/2023