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The Last Days of Judas Iscariot
By Stephen Adly Guirgis
Methuen Drama £8 99
100 pages
Dateline: 15th April, 2008
Occasionally, one leaves a theatre desperate to see the play again
immediately. Sometimes, the real desire is to read the script, not because
the production left anything to be desired but in order to savour the
language and retrace the characters' journeys through an unforgettable
evening.
That was exactly the effect of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot
by Stephen Adly Guirgis, which is now selling out at the Almeida, having
opened last week.
Quite often, reading the script proves that a play was not nearly as
good as it had seemed when it was staged. It is very pleasing to be
able to report that the text confirms that this is a major theatrical
work which fully rewards a second more contemplative and leisurely look.
Indeed, given a little more time to enjoy and reflect, the reader will
derive much and unless there is a West End transfer, it is highly likely
that the only way that anyone who has not yet got a ticket will be able
to experience this retelling of the New Testament story is by investing
in the script.
Adly Guirgis certainly delivers theatrical pyrotechnics in a book that
reads like a Joseph Heller novel and has enough depth to bear reconsideration
on the page, soon after a stage viewing. One thing that becomes clear,
is that Rupert Goold's London production really has done the play credit,
since it is easy to picture both the setting and almost every actor
delivering their lines, as well as hearing their accents and intonations.
The title says much about the subject of this play, but there is far
more to The Last Days of Judas Iscariot than a mere modern take
on the man who sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
On one level, it is genuinely a meditation on the life of Judas and
the way that he interacted with those with whom he came into contact
such as Pontius Pilate and those whom he never met: Sigmund Freud, Mother
Teresa and, one presumes, Satan. On another, as the writer says in his
introduction, it is intended to make us think about the nature of religion
and spirituality today. Finally, it takes an oblique look at contemporary
life, especially in New York, where the characterisation and accents
all started out.
Perhaps the best thing about this play is that despite its serious
subject matter it is extremely funny, particularly when prosecuting
attorney Yusef El-Fayoumy is speaking. This makes it dangerous train
reading for those who do not wish to appear mad, as they unexpectedly
burst out laughing while stuck in a tunnel.
The combination of rough New Yorker speech patterns and saintly characters
works surprisingly well so that by the end of the book/play you feel
that you have learned a lot about the way things are today but also
the strains of living in the first century, before it was the first
century.
In particular, the conclusion on Judas Iscariot is that he was led
on by Jesus and, as his mother says at the start, might well have been
more sinned against than sinning. As a contrast, Satan is a fun kind
of a guy but even so, Heaven still sounds a better bet than his perennially
partying vision of Hell.
Again and again, this wild play surprises, if not shocks, with the
breadth of imagination that underlies it and the solid conclusions that
it reaches, despite the surface flashiness. Not only is The Last
Days of Judas Iscariot a tremendous play, but it is also a great
read.
Philip Fisher
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