★★★☆☆
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s 1971 rock musical is unashamedly a product of its time and of the freewheeling audacity of its creators’ youth — and it shows its age. Yet it still inspires fervour among its followers.
Its score, careening from bombastic, grinding guitar freak-outs and lung-busting ballads to lilting melodies and rousing chorales, is thrilling. And though some of Rice’s once-edgy, slangy lyrics now sound silly, there’s also evidence of sharp wit.
Timothy Sheader’s production — the first British open-air version — brings a modern sensibility to the piece without overdoing the 21st-century trappings. It doesn’t muster enough dramatic potency until near the crucifixion climax, but it’s fresh and lively, its familiar numbers delivered with such full-throated joy that at times