To some, Steven Berkoff is a theatrical god, to others, an egotistical showman. Much could be said of the anti-hero of Berkoff's epic, which posits the idea that Jesus was not the son of God, but rather the revolutionary leader of a small cult who faked his own death on the cross and then appeared to rise again from the dead so fulfilling the prophesies of the Old Testament and ensuring his legend would live forever. As Greg Hicks's JC so sweetly and succinctly puts it: "To come back from the dead is worth a million souls - they'll follow like sheep."
This is not the Second Coming but the third for Berkoff's play, subtitled Scenes from a Crucifixion, which was first seen in the more forgiving environment of Edinburgh and then at London's Riverside Studios. It now looks grossly inflated on the Old Vic stage. At two hours, it would hold the attention, at closer to three, it sometimes seems like a slow roast in hell.
There are flashes of the old Berkoff magic - both in the writing, with its easy vernacular and potent insight into ordinary people's daily lives, and also in the stage pictures - black and white tableaux of often arresting beauty.
But the whole thing is so enamoured with the iconography and music of Christianity that, rather than undercutting traditional religious beliefs and offering a different spin on the origins of Christianity, it often feels like a particularly long church service.
Occasionally it stutters into life - particularly in the second half. Otherwise the evening is most notable for lots of people acting very, very slowly and for Greg Hicks's mesmerising central performance. His JC combines the cold-hearted planning skills of a management consultant with the showmanship of David Blaine.
· Until January 3. Box office: 020-7928 7616.
