Judas Iscariot’s mother speaks first, leaning earnestly toward the small audience. Then St. Monica, who will in-form-you that she has Judas’ number. Then there’s Mary Magdalene and later, Peter, Matthew and Thomas, Jesus’ apostles and saints all.

Judas, though, doesn’t have a lot to say during “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot,” which runs through March 26 at Springs Ensemble Theatre. Which is surprising, since he’s finally getting his day in an otherworldly court. Should he be condemned to hell eternal or, as his attorney argues in his appeal, be pardoned for his role in Jesus’ brutal death on the cross?

During the play, which was directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman off-Broadway in 2005, you’ll hear from a wide variety of characters (and archetypes), including Satan, Sigmund Freud, Mother Teresa and Pontius Pilate. Few are colored between the lines by playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis and the animated cast, directed by Max Ferguson. Happily so.

Clever, irreverent, funny and boasting some of the most nuanced and committed performances of the season, “Judas Iscariot” is a lot of fun – even if your only theological training came from “Jesus Christ Superstar.”

Take Satan (Warren Epstein). Without a tail, horns and cloved feet, he’s something of a bon vivant – with his silver cravat, rakish sweep of hair and red smoking jacket open to the waist over a nice button-up shirt (good work from costumer designers Emory John Collinson and Jillmarie Peterson throughout). Epstein convincingly draws a character who is both dangerous and sensitive, principled and a lying SOB. His Satan is one of the high points of the show.

Jenny Maloney carves out a “Law & Order”-worthy defense attorney in her Fabiana Aziza Cunningham (“This is Purgatory, Caiaphas. I’ve got all day”). Dressed in stacked red pumps, a short black pencil skirt, red peplum blouse and a black shrug, she swims through the dense dialogue and theological connect-the-dots with ease and conviction. She owns that courtroom, all the way down to the way she tosses a pen on the defense table.

Greg Reilly’s obsequious El-Fayoumy is delightful. As is Barbara Summerville’s low-rent angel Gloria. Gabriel Espinoza-Lira is hip-hop perfect (and believable) in his role as Simon the Zealot. And Desiree Meyers brings some hardcore ghetto diva to her bejeweled St. Monica. Taylor Geiman’s Pontius Pilate is wonderfully C&W, a county sheriff you don’t want to run into unless you happen to be a shapely blonde. As the lost soul Butch Honeywell, John A. Zincone delivers heartbreak and pure authenticity. And finally, Jonathan Margheim’s Judas embodies hurt and grief with real humanity.

With all those characters (many actors play multiple roles) and action, it’s not surprising that “Judas Iscariot” runs three hours, including a 15-minute intermission. While it’s engaging, especially as the trial kicks into gear, it sags halfway through, leaving you wondering if you really care what happens to Judas. Other nits: Both the set design and the background music for the saint’s testimony to the audience were distracting, without sufficient reason. And backstage noise was an issue, especially as the play headed to the climactic scenes.

Jack Williamson (St. Thomas) in “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” at Springs Ensemble Theatre.

Tracy Mobley-Matinez Saturday December 13, 2014. Photo by Jeff Kearney

Jeff Keaerney