“A King with no Crown”

In The Last Days of Judas Iscariot we find ourselves in a riotous courtroom drama set in the corner of Purgatory called Hope, a limbo land between heaven and hell. We see Fabiana Aziza Cunningham, an agnostic defense lawyer and Egyptian prosecution lawyer Yusef El-Fayoumy, up from hell for the job, battling out the case of whether the eternally damned Sinner, Judas Iscariot, deserves forgiveness. The Warwick University Drama Society presents a show which is bursting with 1950s-inspired jazz and be-bop, traverse style staging allowing the audience to become part of the jury and an intensely American vernacular that is the language of the play!
When interviewing the director of the show, second-year Theatre and Performance Studies student Eddie Elliot, he said: “While the play seems to initially explore one infamous character’s judgment, the political barb at the heart of this dark comedy, in fact it strives to question EVERYONE’s own judgment and the betrayals that we, as an audience, have all personally committed at some point in our own lives. As we are surrounded by news broadcasts caked with stories of betrayal and punishment, this play offers a particularly relevant look at the entire notion of judgment and the ethics that surround it.”

The traverse staging, wherein the audience sits on both sides of the stage facing one another, reinforces the concept of getting the spectator to asses and divulge the on-stage happenings for themselves. Vicky Watson, the set designer for the show comments, “By using traverse seating we will be giving the impression of an infinite courtroom, further enhancing the audience’s role as on-lookers. We want the audience to make their own judgment of the events on stage – just like a jury, further enhanced by the awareness of this role as they are facing the action as well as the other half of the audience. I also felt that the traverse space allows room for ensemble movement and the performance can be investigated in an exciting way!”
By setting the play in a court of law, playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis posits that most of today’s great decisions are made in courtrooms. Eddie further comments: “By using the conventions of a courtroom drama, we are able to explore complex themes within a recognisable format for an audience. This is not a play about one man’s guilt and another’s forgiveness; rather it strives to challenge an audience, to prompt a re-examination of everyday betrayals, personal lapses of belief, and ask who exactly we need to look to for forgiveness.”

Perhaps this is why Eddie’s favorite character has to be Butch Honeywell. “Butch’s function as a character is simply to represent the individuals in the audience – he is you and me – the ‘everyday man’ so to speak. He is just your regular guy who has, like Judas (and practically everyone watching in the theatre), committed a personal betrayal. He is now looking for forgiveness and hope in lieu of his very understandable crimes.”

As an audience we will constantly be jerked from left to right, taking sympathy with Judas but then again feeling bursts of anger at his betrayal to Jesus Christ, being one of his chosen Apostles. In terms of the set and staging design, I have been told that there are many more surprises to be seen, yet Eddie and Vicky simply smile, not giving anymore away!

With 15 actors multi-rolling to represent the 25 parts in the play, a variety of voices from Sigmund Freud to Satan will be giving their own opinions on whether Judas should be admitted or barred from entering heaven. The writing of Stephen Adly Guirgis promotes the use of an array of international accents ranging from downtown New York Bronx to exotic Egyptian English and back to good ol’ proper British! Racist? Maybe a little, but the stereotypes of different nationalities in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot lends itself as a Brechtian technique; at first shocking in its outrageous discourse it later becomes clear that the colloquial language (riveted with swear words and blasphemy), works as a framework in order to see the opinions of these fictional, biblical and historical, characters in a new light. Eddie comments, “I feel it is important to note that this play is by no means an attack on Christianity nor is it idealising the religion. I will be in no way religiously bias when directing the show- we hope our production will ask the questions, not answer them.”

In rehearsals, Eddie also encourages his ensemble to continue asking questions, is open to their suggestions and places emphasis on themes such as forgiveness, betrayal, faith and belief. Eddie describes his approach to directing by first blocking the complete skeleton framework of the narrative, and later adding the essential detail and flesh of the piece throughout the rehearsal period. “As this is a play packed with unique characters, my main job is to ensure each character portrayal is inimitable, effervescent and most importantly, genuine. Therefore our rehearsal schedule sees a great deal of character work, through both development workshops, character improvisations, hot seating and one-on-one rehearsals.”
Further enquiring into the world of the production, I find out about the heavy musical element. Musical Composer and Director Kieran Lucas mentions that the play’s characters emerge from biblical settings right through to the present day, which made him want to reflect both the antiquarian elements and the street-wise, contemporary elements in the musical score. Kieran elaborates, “The music for this production will be based on a 1950s jazz and be-bop sound with the scope

to incorporate hip-hop and break beat elements, themselves developed from jazz. By marrying the two styles we hope to represent the timelessness of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.” A song composed especially for each character provides the actors a further layer on which to base their mannerisms and movement! Not only characters are introduced with music, but various location changes are indicated with Kieran’s score.

I ask Eddie very bluntly and to the point, as it seems the characters in his play would, why should Warwick students come to see this show? He replies: “While the show sounds awfully heavy in terms of both its title and polemic, the play is in fact anything but. Stephen Adly Guirgis has written a script that, above everything else, is hilarious and incredibly entertaining. With characters that will put you in hysterics and writing that will both move and tickle you, I really recommend seeing this rare British production of an incredibly popular American show. As there hasn’t been a notable British production of the show since its acclaimed run at the Almeida in 2008, the Warwick Arts Centre’s production could be your only opportunity to enjoy the award winning work of Stephen Adly Guirgis in the UK. This is a production that is in no way religiously fuelled. It is neither anti- or pro-Christian, rather the questions posed are much more real, than indeed spiritual.”

Does Judas Iscariot deserve forgiveness, is he, as Lady Gaga sings in her chart topping song ‘Judas’, “A king with no crown”? Or, does he belong in hell for the rest of eternity? Come and make up your own mind from January 30 to February 2 at the Warwick Arts Centre – tickets available now!