the last days of judas iscariot by stephen adly guirgis

Anyone who enjoys the irreverent existentialism of Birdman, Groundhog Day and Harold and Maude, or tv’s recent obsession with the afterlife ( The Good Place, Miracle Workers, Forever, Good Omens), this is the play for you. It’s A Matter of Life and Death meets The Greatest Story Ever Told but scripted like a Scorsese movie. The language of the angels is rendered colloquial and relatable, humanising and grounding these distant and divine beings. Don’t be put off by the theologically-incendiary title Christianity may provide the characters, but religion is the context, not the substance: Last Days is a moving meditation on guilt, remorse and responsibility on a cosmic yet deeply personal scale. But the trial goes ahead regardless a churlish judge, a sleazy prosecutor and a fiercely intelligent defence attorney wrangle with each other over holy scripture as a star-studded slew of iconic figures parade in and out of the witness stand, and God is conspicuous only by His absence.Īlthough the play can get as intense and emotional as that synopsis suggests, it’s crafted with a lightness of touch that makes celestials and saints (and even Satan) feel distinctly modern and familiar despite their otherwise-distancing epochal grandiosity.

The verdict is almost universally considered a foregone conclusion to even think of re-evaluating the complicity of Judas in Jesus’ death seems like a betrayal of God and everything His disciples hold dear. The trial concerns the immortal soul of Christianity’s – perhaps history’s – most infamous traitor: Judas Iscariot. The story: in a rundown corner of Purgatory (ironically) called Hope, a court is in session.

The original, premiering in 2005, was directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman and starred Sam Rockwell as Judas. One of the reasons for that is because it called to mind another Guirgis-penned, provocatively-titled, masterpiece: The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, a triumph of the form and one of my all-time favourite works of fiction. It was a vicious, vibrant play that struck me deeply both on the page and the stage, and it has stayed with me ever since. Last year I had the pleasure of speaking on the post-show panel for the Sherman Theatre’s production of Stephen Adly Guirgis’ The Motherf**ker with the Hat.

The last days of judas iscariot by stephen adly guirgis