THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT
Subject: Quicktake - "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot" by Stephen Adly Guirgis
Date: Tuesday, July 17, 9:57 PM
Quicktake on THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT
Stephen Adly Guirgis's 2005 effort for LABrynth, his homebase in NYC, is a sprawling meditation on despair, even more grounded in the implications of morality, particularly as seen by certain Catholic thinkers, than "Our Lady of 121st St." Like the latter piece it is episodic, with cameos for members of his company. Unfortunately, since the setting is Purgatory and both Jesus and Satan are represented, along with quirky modern characters, and the action only loosely linear, the script rambles and is currently at least half an hour too long, without arc or conclusion. Never the less, Company One's Summer L. Williams, the group's education director, gets her cast through it with eventually.
Most of the show is in a courtroom setting with George Saulnier as the Judge, a Confederate Army Officer who committed suicide. Performances range from excellent to acceptable, with standout efforts by Shawn La Count, Company One's artistic director, as Satan, Noel Armstrong as Cunningham, Judas' defense attorney, and Raymond Ramirez as her client, who never appears in court. Mason Sand, an original Company One member, plays the prosecutor, an obsequious Middle Easterner named El-Fayoumy with a florid vocabulary, a joke which wears out too quickly. Saulnier is impressive doubling as Caphias, the High Priest, one of the scripts several intentional doubles.
Greg Maraio's Butch Honeywell, the foreman of a three person jury, has an impressive monologue which serves as the coda for the evening but comes rather out of the blue. Juanita Rodrigues, a teacher at the Boston Art's academy is effective as Judas' mother, Henrietta, who opens the show and a scene stealer as trash-talking St. Monica.
The author's freewheeling imagination provides many interesting moments and challenges to the actors, and he raises a lot of old unanswered question about faith. But he and LABrynth don't seem to have been able to winnow through this collection to shape a coherent piece of theatre. Scenes that might have been useful acting exercises seem to have been retained, confrontations erupt but don't conclude, and characters like Satan, Cunningham, or El-Fayoumy, just fade without resolution. Company One is to be congratulated, however, for attempting this script and including such a range of local actors, including Boston Arts Academy students, in the effort. Not every piece of "fringe" theatre can be successful.
"The Last Days of Judas Iscariot" by Stephen Adly Guirgis", July 14 - Aug. 5
Company One at BCA Plaza Theatre
539 Tremont, (617) 933 - 8600
Company One
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posted by will at 2:59 PM
1 Comments:
Guirgis is unweildy and hopefully will only improve as he goes on, like Pollock or Cezanne.
The Village Voice has an article about how many mistakes young playwrights are allowed to commit in non-profit development programs.
One of the sins often committed is related to keeping the piece as a whole.
My review of Judas iscariot, if you are interested, is here:
http://mirroruptolife.blogspot.com/2006/07/at-every-mouth-he-with-his-teeth-was.html
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