23:00, Fri 6th – Sat 7th December 2013 at ADC Theatre
Michaelmas Week 8

Joyful Joyful : A Journey through Gospel tells the story of gospel music in an hour-long piece scattered with music, dance and poetry.

Everything began in the fields. Deep, powerful, soulful music asserted the slaves’ power of speech, the remnants of their humanity. We sing ‘Oh Mamma Blue’ and ’Swing Low’. Early gospel was the ultimate expression of pain and suffering, but it grew into something more uplifting : a celebration of life, a manifestation of joy.

We pay tribute to the genre in its widest sense: from ‘Man in the Mirror’ and ‘World’s Greatest’ to ‘Oh Happy Day’. We want to share with you the joyful sensation that gospel music brings. Because after all, gospel gives you the 'feeling there is a cure for what’s wrong' (Mahalia Jackson).