Before our stages become suffused with Cinderellas, the Oxford Operatic Society and the Playhouse have come up with an interesting way next week of ushering us towards Christmas.

Jesus Christ Superstar portrays events at the end of Christ’s life; but it’s one of the most resilient of all the famed Lloyd Webber/Rice musical collaborations, and it is to the credit of OSS that they are one of the few amateur groups to have been assigned performing rights.

I asked the director Dave Crewe if strings come attached. “Although the show is now far less controversial than when it first appeared, it’s critical that the subject matter is treated with respect, and you don’t change the story or setting. Superstar is inherently Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s interpretation of what might have happened.

“And don’t forget to tell that story clearly. There’s a lot of character perspectives — for example how Judas is portrayed — different from how the Bible presents them. The audience must instantly understand this.”

David Staines (above) plays Jesus, a role he’s undertaken previously, in Godspell. “Superstar is more demanding than Godspell, which was the Passion set in a circus if you like. I’ve been keen to find opportunities to show what it was that made Jesus and his message so attractive to people then and now. It’s a huge challenge, vocally and physically.”

Doing two jobs at the same time is Chilina Madon, OSS’s marketing officer and Mary Magdalene on stage. “We’re lucky enough not to be directly affected by arts cutbacks. But we live and die by our decisions, which makes programming shows in this tricky time quite important. Marketing Superstar while playing Mary has proved a bit more of a juggling act than usual — but it’s a gift of a part, with some timeless songs.”

I enjoyed David Staines’s down-to-earth approach to preparing for his rigorous role: “The week before the auditions, my vicar gave a sermon on how we all seek to become ‘imitators of Christ’ — I think I may have taken the idea a bit literally!”