Jesus Christ Superstar
★★★★☆ It’s the buzz
Festival Theatre: Weds 7 – Sat 10 May 2025
Review by Rebecca Mahar
Southern Light blaze onto the Festival Theatre stage with their production of the Lloyd Webber & Rice rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar, tackling this modern classic with a monstrous cast and ambitious production values.
A loose retelling of the Passion of Jesus, Superstar follows the events of the final week of Christ’s life leading up to the crucifixion. While Jesus (Colin Sutherland) is obviously a main character, Superstar is equally about Judas (Ethan Baird), and his doubts over Jesus’s plans (or lack thereof), ultimately leading to his betrayal.
Colin Sutherland as Jesus. Pic: Andrew Morris Photography
Director Fraser Grant has placed his Superstar in a contemporary setting. The ensemble film on their phones and take selfies with Jesus, and there is an intermittent projection of a live camera feed of onstage events.
The idea behind this is clear: what if this had all happened in the age of social media? In his director’s note, Grant phrases this as “Christ as celebrity. Christ hounded. Christ cancelled.”
Costume design by Sandra Summers has the ensemble dressed all in black, excepting the Apostles and Mary Magdalene (Lara Kidd) who, like Jesus, wear colours. Other characters such as Caiaphas (Nathan Auerbach), Annas (Judith Walker), and the priests (Chris Cotter, Ewan Robertson, Helen Smith) are marked out as different by the addition of statement pieces such as long coats and sunglasses to their otherwise black attire.
homogeneity
This homogeneity allows the chorus to flow to and from scenes to embody different locations and groups of people easily, while still allowing the principal and featured characters to be identified.
Ethan Baird (Judas), Colin Sutherland (Jesus) and Lara Kidd (Mary Magdalene). Pic: Andrew Morris Photography
A company of ninety-three packs a huge chorus onto the Festival Theatre stage. Although there are moments where the power of this number of people cannot be denied, such as in The Temple when Jesus is overwhelmed by the sick and afflicted seeking his help, it does lead to challenges.
Grant’s choice to have the chorus always present onstage certainly ties into the theme of someone always watching, and the inability to escape social judgement. However, this many folk always on stage means that, at times, groups of people are just hanging around on the sides of the stage without clear purpose.
high-powered production value
Additionally, while the social media metaphor is established at the top of the show, it is not effectively carried through the entirety of the piece. A weakness which is amplified by the huge number of people who could have been better utilised to support the concept.
Excellent lighting design from James Gow is responsible for much of the show’s high-powered production value, transforming the mostly-bare stage with looks that range from bleak, stark, and simple, to concert-worthy showstopping frenzy – and everything in between.
A scene from Jesus Christ Superstar. Lighting design: James Gow. Pic: Andrew Morris Photography
There were a few technical mishaps on opening night: Moving lights not quite being aligned with performers’ movements, and the follow-spots being consistently late and low throughout. But these problems are balanced by the overall splendour of the design. Gow also co-designed the set with director Grant, and the lighting has been well integrated into the staircase that is the central set-piece.
sincerity, pathos and inner turmoil
Colin Sutherland brings sincerity, pathos and inner turmoil to Jesus, with just enough arrogance at the beginning to help the audience understand Judas’s concerns. His voice is clear and inviting, and his believable charisma transitions smoothly to the torment of a man realising what he must do and sacrifice, to the silent strength of his resurrection. Sutherland’s performance is relentlessly physical, whether it’s in his relaxed juxtaposition to Judas’s tension, or the specificity of his final agonies.
Ethan Baird’s Judas has frenzied energy and torment in spades, and a beautiful strong voice on his many held notes, with powerful straight tone. However, Judas has a lot of words to get through most of the time he sings, and due to Baird’s tendencies towards over-reliance on the mic, swallowing his words, and slack diction, he is largely unintelligible for much of the time.
Ethan Baird (Judas). Pic: Andrew Morris Photography
Baird is at his best at the end of Blood Money when he tells the priests where to find Jesus, and in his reprise of I Don’t Know How to Love Him after Jesus’s arrest and torment. Both are moments of bitter anguish and conflict for Judas. These brief pieces with their slower tempo allow Baird to articulate clearly and act his heart out, packing every syllable with agony and the twisting of limbs.
consistency of character
Mary Magdalene is played without apology by Lara Kidd, filling the role with quiet command. Kidd’s Mary displays a consistent devotion to Jesus that transcends her conflicted feelings for him, and some of her best moments are when she is physically fighting to defend or reach him.
Kidd’s rendition of I Don’t Know How to Love Him is superb, but her Mary really shines in the acting and consistency of character she brings throughout the show, to the final moment when she sees Christ depart, invisible to all but her.
Lara Kidd (Mary Magdalene). Pic: Andrew Morris Photography
Other standouts include Darren Johnson as Pontius Pilate, who raises the roof of the Festival Theatre in Trial by Pilate/39 Lashes, perfectly balancing the vocal demands of the part with Pilate’s conflict and attempts to get Jesus to speak and save himself. Johnson’s tremendous voice, crisp diction, and healthy growls are ovation-worthy on their own. Gigi Guyot is a dynamic and intense Simon, exhorting Jesus with the rousing Simon Zealotes and a heavenly money note.
With a cast this large it’s impossible to give everyone their individual flowers, but the company is stacked with talent and commitment, reinforcing the fact that quality theatre is being produced here, by local artists, with fewer resources than large-scale touring productions, and no paycheck at the end of the day. Catch this Superstar before it’s gone.
Running time: Two hours (including one interval
Festival Theatre, 13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000.
Wed 7 – Sat 10 May 2025
Evenings: 7.30pm; Sat mat: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.
Accessible performances: The Saturday 2:30pm show will be audio described, BSL interpreted, and have a touch tour before the show
The Last Supper. Pic: Andrew Morris Photography
ENDS
