When Stephen Adly Guirgis wrote The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot, he wanted to cast a fair light on the Bible’s most infamous kiss-and-tell. Set in downtown purgatory, it is a dark courtroom drama/comedy where a lawyer who believes in divine mercy above divine justice is appealing Iscariot’s sentence of eternal damnation. Calling in witnesses as diverse as Sigmund Freud to Satan himself, the original off-Broadway production (which was directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman) received rave reviews and is currently the most performed play in American high schools. Making its debut in Ireland this July, we spoke to lead actor Megan Riordan, and director Matt Torney on why they decided to bring it to Dublin.
Judas is often considered as the ultimate betrayer, yet Last Days seems to cast him in a favorable light, or at least a fair light. Will the audience relate with his character?
Matt: What’s interesting about the play is that Megan’s character (Judas’ defense attorney) decides to appeal Judas’s soul; Her grounds for defense is that on one hand God is meant to have this unconditional love for all his people yet he is essentially using Judas so that prophesies can be fulfilled. Judas has prepared an essential part in preparing the way for Christ to die on the cross for our sins, and now has to take the rap.
All the characters that come in to testify have a different opinion on what should happen to him. For example Mother Teresa is one of the witnesses, and she believes because Judas committed the sin of despair (i.e. suicide) he has chosen to lock himself into his own personal hell. In this regard we can’t comment if the audience will like, or dislike Judas. There are so many arguments put forward it’s up to people to make their own mind up.
Would you say the play is pro-religion, anti-religion or is it simply using religion as a tool to examine human behavior?
Megan: The writer, Stephen Adly Guirgis grew up with a very strong Catholic faith. For him, the story about Judas is what turned him away from religion, or at least prompted him to question it. He uses biblical characters to examine different aspects of human nature. For example, several of the apostles represent a different aspect of humanity. St. Peter represents human strength, Simon represents anger and Thomas is weakness and doubt. Jesus himself represents the heart, and love.
The themes of the play are good vs. evil, litigation and compassion. These are heavy subjects and may lead people to think the play is quite dark, and somber, this is not the case though am I correct?
No not at all, using such heavy topics could lend itself to an intense and serious play, on a par with going to church, but actually the play is incredibly funny. The writer is so talented, that he can create brilliant characters that are so well crafted, each have their own form of humor, the setting of New York brings plenty of comedy with it. He pokes fun at religion and peoples attitudes towards it. It’s interesting to see St. Monica depicted as a ghetto Latino New Yorker.
And the play was originally directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman. Those are some big shoes to fill, any pressure Matt?
Matt: No not really, I think the play is very suitable to Ireland, with its strong Catholic background, and I’ve enjoyed exploring that relationship.
Meg: I think New York and Ireland have a strong relationship. The play could almost be set in inner-city Dublin rather then the New York streets, as there’s something parallel and charming about their ubiquitous similarities. The setting is almost a lens to look through the issues.
The Last Days of Judas Iscariot opens in the Project Arts Centre’s Space Upstairs on the 9th of July, with tickets at €10 and €15. For more information, check out www.projectartscentre.ie
