{"id":4016,"date":"2010-07-18T07:28:00","date_gmt":"2010-07-18T14:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/?p=4016"},"modified":"2010-07-18T07:28:00","modified_gmt":"2010-07-18T14:28:00","slug":"the-trial-of-the-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/?p=4016","title":{"rendered":"The Trial of the Century"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Last night, we went to Repertory East Playhouse in Newhall<\/a> to see their first summer \u201c81 series\u201d production: \u201cThe Last Days of Judas Iscariot\u201d. Although the acting and direction were great, the show didn\u2019t grab me. This may have been due to my headache; it may have been due to the subject matter (I\u2019m Jewish); or it may have been due to the length (just over 3 hours). I know that my wife and daughter enjoyed the show (in fact, Erin raved about it on her Facebook), so I\u2019m guessing my reaction is just mine. It is important to remember that—just as with movies—sometimes the subject doesn\u2019t reach out to everyone. This is why shows such as this are in the \u201c81 series\u201d: the shows are more on the edge and perhaps of less broad appeal. That doesn\u2019t make them bad shows. Poor writing, poor acting, and poor production makes a show bad… and this show had good writing, good acting, and good production.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Last Days of Judas Iscariot<\/i>\u201d is a 2005 play by American playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis<\/a>. It presents the trial of Judas Iscariot in a stylized TV-Judge manner, taking place in a corner of Purgatory called Hope. The court is presided over by Judge Littlefield, a Civil-War era judge who is impatient and mecurical, and his bailiff, Julius of Outer Mongolia. Representing Judas, who is comatose, is a sexy defense attorney named Fabiana Aziza Cunningham. Cunningham’s opponent is a womanizing prosecutor named Yusef El-Fayoumy, an Egyptian Christian. Throughout the proceedings we see a wide variety of historical characters ranging from Satan and Jesus, to Simon the Zealot, Sigmund Freud, the jive-talking Saint Monica, Calaphas the Elder (head of the Sanhedrin), Pontius Pilate, Mother Theresa, and others. Throughout the story, questions are raised of whether Judas was responsible for his actions and crazy; whether Jesus\u2019s love for the least means that he would forgive Judas; whether Judas\u2019 hatred for his own actions would permit him to accept forgiveness; and the role of the Jews of the time in the whole mess.<\/p>\n

Although the story was interesting, I found it long. The story and the presentation could likely be tightened; however, since this is a new work, I\u2019m not sure the REP had that luxury. There were also points in the story, in particular the testimony of Calaphas the Elder and Pontius Pilate, that seemed to be edging on the point of placing the blame on the Jews. That is a particular claim that\u2019s been responsible for a lot of antisemitism over the ages, and so I am very sensitive to it. The question is a hard one to answer… and it would have been interesting to see an exploration of who Jesus would blame. I\u2019ve always viewed the subject as this: My understanding is that Jesus\u2019 death is a critical part of the belief system—if he hadn\u2019t died for the sins of the people, the story of the resurrection wouldn\u2019t have happened, and Christian theology wouldn\u2019t exist. Thus, the actions of the \u201cvillains\u201d of the story—Judas, the Sanhedrin of the time, Pilate—are the critical event that elevated Jesus from a local evangelical to the position he has today. It is an important view to understand: the importance of the bad things that happen in shaping the good in our lives, but without the bad, we wouldn\u2019t have the good. The Bible does say it best: we are given the choice between good and bad, life and death, and we are to choose good. Satan exists to give us the ability to choose to do good. Judas exists to give us the opportunity to forgive.<\/p>\n

I should note that the production opened with an audience warm-up by Jonathan \u201cDoc\u201d Farrow (the Bailiff), who did a great job of interacting with the audience and setting the mood of the evening. I\u2019m guessing this wasn\u2019t in the script, and I found that it worked very well.<\/p>\n

The performances of the cast (under the direction of Jamie Callahan) were excellent, but I\u2019ve come to expect nothing less from a REP production. Leading the charge were Daniel Lench<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup> at Judge Littlefield and Jonathan \u201cDoc\u201d Farrow as Bailiff Julius of Outer Mongolia. Both had fun with their roles; Lench in particular appeared to take sadistic joy in interacting with the characters. As Fabiana Aziza Cunningham, MarLee Candell<\/a> was the typical sexy defense attorney with a fire in her spirit. Opposing her was Carlo Pietrosanti as Yusef El-Faoumy, a sleazy lecherous slime of a prosecutor. Pietrosanti captured that essence well; so much so you wanted to check the stage for oil afterwards. Also playing a critical role in the proceedings was Toya Nash<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup> as Saint Monica, a jive-talking product of the hood, who brought substantial energy to the proceedings (we\u2019ve met her son, Augustine of Hippo, before<\/a>).<\/p>\n

In terms of the individuals who testified, there were a number of standout performances, often by REP regulars. I particularly recall Brad Sergi<\/a> as Satan, who took full delight in his character—I think he was channeling something inside of him; Bill Quinn as Saint Matthew\/Sigmund Freud, who played the Viennese doctor as a man quite full of himself; and Michael Levine as Calaphas the Elder, who brought his own tallit and seemingly brought an Eastern-European Yiddish speaking aspect to the story. Rounding out the cast were Scott Blair (Judas Iscariot); Vitthal Mendieta (Jesus\/Simon the Zealot); Gregor Manns (Pontius Pilate); Christina Ridout (Henrietta Iscariot\/Mary Magdalene); Christopher Murphy (Matthias of Galilee\/Sant Thomas\/Saint Peter); Donna Marie Sergi (Gloria\/Mother Theresa); Johnny Schwinn (Roman Centurian); Amber Van Schwinn (Sister Glenna); and Mikee Schwinn.
\n[\u00e6<\/sup> denotes members of \"\u00e6\" Actors Equity<\/a> ]<\/font><\/p>\n

The technical production was by the usual REP crew: \u201cNanook\u201d doing sound, Tim Christianson doing lighting, and Jeff Hyde on the sets. All were excellent as usual. Although uncredited in the body of the program, I\u2019m expecting Mikee was behind the excellent videos developed for the show. Erin Anderson was Stage Manager. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Last Days of Judas Iscariot\u201d continues at the REP through July 24. Tickets are available through the REP Online Box Office<\/a>, and are often available through Goldstar and LA Stage Tix.<\/p>\n

Upcoming Theatre and Dance<\/b>. Tonight brings the July \u201cMeeting of Minds<\/a><\/i> (Catherine the Great, Daniel Cromwell, and Daniel O’Connell, starring Gary Cole, Penny Peyser, Ian Buchanan and Jim Handy). Next weekend brings \u201cRodgers & Hammerstein\u2019s Cinderella<\/i>\u201d at Cabrillo Music Theatre<\/a> on July 24, and \u201cThe Lieutenant of Inishmore<\/a><\/i>\u201d at the Mark Taper Forum<\/a> on July 25. August starts with \u201cYoung Frankenstein<\/a><\/i>\u201d at the Pantages on August 1. The next weekend brings \u201c[title of show]<\/i>\u201d<\/a> at the Celebration Theatre<\/a> on August 6. August 15 brings the August \u201cMeeting of Minds\u201d<\/a>, and August 21 \u201cSide Man\u201d at REP East<\/a>. Looking into September, there is \u201cFree Man of Color<\/a><\/i>\u201d at the Colony<\/a> on September 4, and \u201cLeap of Faith<\/a><\/i>\u201d at the Ahmanson Theatre<\/a> (September 5-October 17, to be ticketed), and \u201cDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde<\/i>\u201d at REP East<\/a> (9\/17-10\/16). It is unknown if there will be a September \u201cMeeting of Minds<\/i>\u201d, and if so, when and where. October will bring \u201cHappy Days: The Musical<\/i>\u201d at Cabrillo Music Theatre, and possibly \u201cThe Glass Menagerie\u201d at the Mark Taper Forum.<\/p>\n

As always: live theatre is a gift and a unique experience, unlike a movie. It is vitally important in these times that you support your local arts institutions. If you can afford to go to the movies, you can afford to go to theatre. If you need help finding ways, just drop me a note and I\u2019ll teach you some tricks. Lastly, I\u2019ll note that nobody paid me anything to write this review. In fact, I receive no remuneration for any reviews I write.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last night, we went to Repertory East Playhouse in Newhall to see their first summer \u201c81 series\u201d production: \u201cThe Last Days of Judas Iscariot\u201d. Although the acting and direction were great, the show didn\u2019t grab me. This may have been due to my headache; it may have been due to the subject matter (I\u2019m Jewish); Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,28,1],"tags":[462,331,323],"class_list":["post-4016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","category-theatre","category-lj-xfer","tag-rep-east","tag-reviews-2010","tag-theatre-2010"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4016"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5441,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4016\/revisions\/5441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}