Godspell

14th May 2025

Sharnbrook Mill Theatre

Thirty-something years before he gave the Wicked Witch Of The West her anthemic reason to take to the skies in ‘Wicked’, Stephen Schwartz created the musical ‘Godspell’, which tells the story of Jesus (played here in a gender-swap by Kate Brewster) through a series of parables based on the Gospel of Matthew, brought together in a book by John-Michael Tebelak.  The tales cover a range of teachings from unity to compassion, love and charity, and are interspersed with songs composed by Schwartz with many of the lyrics taken from various hymns.  Styles range from gospel to funk, from vaudeville to rock, and the piece is a popular choice for youth theatres and amateur companies. Indeed, it marks the second show of 2025 for the Sharnbrook Mill Theatre team, who follow up their Dracula spoof in March with their first musical offering of the year.

As religious musicals go, ‘Godspell’ isn’t as instantly accessible as ‘Joseph’, and lacks the power of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, and instead stands as a curious oddity of its own kind. Being a series of morality tales told by unnamed townspeople, with Jesus connecting the threads and delivering the message of God, the show can be hard to connect to without a driving linear story or defined individual characters to root for. The separate tales feel somewhat twee and very much like a Sunday School lesson, although the book has been updated from the 70s, with references to air fryers and Trump which get several laughs from the audience.  Act 2 succeeds far better in terms of storytelling, culminating in Jesus’ betrayal by Judas (Luke Steel) and Jesus’ ultimate crucifixion. Narratively, the show does feel a little bit of an aimless (but still enjoyable) wander until those later stages. The music is certainly the biggest strength of the show, although fans of Schwartz’s style may be initially surprised by the far simpler style of his debut composition when compared to the orchestral drama of later works such as ‘Wicked’. Still, there are toe-tappers and memorable melodies, although several of the songs do get very repetitive very quickly.

As we’ve come to expect from the Sharnbrook Mill Theatre, the team take the material and do their best with it, putting on an enjoyable and entertaining show. Directed and choreographed by Cleo Carter, the production takes on the challenges of the unusual narrative structure and makes the storytelling clear with invention and style (an ensemble number ending in a recreation of The Last Supper is a particularly clever highlight).

The set is stripped back, a run-down “Skid Row”, and it works, with Jesus’ teachings helping to tidy up the rubbish and bring light to the troubled world.

Very much an ensemble show, the cast of ten all do an excellent job and are each given their moments to shine. The performers really find the joy in the songs and deliver it in their renditions. Leading the show, Kate Brewster does an excellent job, giving us a warm and nurturing Jesus while also delivering vocally.

More “stories with songs” than a truly organic musical, ‘Godspell’ as a whole doesn’t quite work, but it has a lot of fun trying, and Sharnbrook Mill Theatre’s production captures its spirit wonderfully. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but what show is, and anything which teaches kindness towards your fellow man using a jaunty tune is always a nice thing to celebrate.

‘Godspell’ runs at Sharnbrook Mill Theatre until Saturday 17th May 2025.

Photos credit: Sophie Kelk

Performance runtime 2 hours including interval.