A rude awakening for a classic Biblical tale

Kate Powe
Contributor
Theatre@York’s most recent production, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, directed by York student Paul F. Muir, took its viewers into a topsy-turvy world where all conventions were turned on their heads.
The story of Judas is common knowledge to most, but it had never been told this way before. In the play, the apostles wore leather jackets; saints and angels swore and grinded to rap music; and Pontius Pilate wore a mini-skirt with tattoos up her thighs.
All of the idealization and purity usually associated with Biblical tales was stripped away in this dramatization of the trial in purgatory to decide the fate of renowned traitor Judas Iscariot. The story was touching, daring, racy and surprising, putting a modern spin on traditional Biblical tales and satirizing their, and our own, assumptions.
The story itself was poignant, killing off the audience’s expectations and introducing clever, relatable and titillating characters and events to the old tale. Its characters were wonderfully quirky and flawlessly portrayed by students of York’s masters program in acting.
Honestly, no one expects a saint to tease Judas by yelling, “Hey, let’s go down to a bar and betray some motherfuckers!”
Zoe Sweet, who plays the sexy New York defense attorney, and Peter Mikhail, the conniving and silly prosecutor, were the subjects of especially astounding performances. They maintained quick dialogue and chemistry with one another and had high energy throughout the show. Several other actors had the difficult job of blending into multiple roles (from children to a leather-wearing zealot or even Judas’ mother) and pulled it off magnificently.
Aside from the acting, several aspects of production were skillfully presented. The stage was beautifully designed with an ominous, dark appearance – thanks to lighting by Starleana Scott giving the story an eerie edge. Basic effects such as the play’s lighting were always interesting and complex, and easily transferred the audience to the various locations and atmospheres the characters traveled to. Without ever changing the set, the audience never doubted that they had moved from purgatory to a nightclub. These elements came together to make the script come to life.
Playwright Stephen Guirgis’s choice to set the play in purgatory was genius. It is the perfect setting for a story told from the perspective of real humans who are flawed, hurt and rife with mistakes. These individuals are not pure and just, nor are they evil or malicious. Despite its profound comic elements, the play seriously asked the audience to empathize with a character that is synonymous with evil while simultaneously attacking the virtue of many moral authority figures.
Saint Monica, fabulously and energetically portrayed by Lopa Sircar, swore profusely, and was unashamedly sexy and full of pride. Even Mother Teresa, played by Tom Soares in one of his many roles, was accused of accepting blood money and blaming violence on abortion. Sigmund Freud (Soares) was revealed to be addicted to crack. This stripping of pretense forced the audience to wonder: if Mother Teresa isn’t a perfect human, then who is?
In the end, Jesus loves all traitors, all liars, all adulterers; no one is denied compassion. Jesus and Judas’ beautiful and tearful reunion at the end of the play transformed the Biblical story of Judas from a tale of warning to a story of love and forgiveness, opening up the play and the audience’s eyes to new and challenging ways of thinking.
Though The Last Days of Judas Iscariot satirized religion in many ways, it also supported many of the most universal Biblical values. The moving image of Jesus (Laurel Thomson) washing the wounded characters in his forgiveness, for example, left the audience with a poignant feeling of belonging and hope.
Overall, Theatre@York’s second show of the season was honest, dramatic and a little bit badass – a wild ride rife with shock, awe, sentimentality and uniquely placed high heels. The production group hopes to carry on with their success in the year’s remaining Theatre@York performances.