Hatcher Hall hosts a tragic comedy that won’t betray you

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By Jason Andreasen

So you allegedly betrayed Christ? That doesn’t mean your legal rights are stripped from you, does it?

Apparently not in downtown purgatory. At least that’s the way Stephen Adly Guirgis saw it when he wrote 2005’s, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. Having been performed off-Broadway and at London’s Almeida Theatre, the controversial comedy/drama finally made its debut at LSU’s Hatcher Hall on Tuesday, December 2 and will run through Sunday, December 7.

Although the play is set in an unfamiliar location, its themes are undeniably universal. Just over two hours long, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot is a courtroom drama unlike any other you’ve likely been exposed to. It centers around an appeal hearing with more than just evidentiary concerns and habeas corpus at issue. Instead, the players involved here are at odds over the release of Christ’s most notorious disciple, Judas, from the depths of hell. And while one might understandably postulate this to be a dry, tedious study of Christian text, co-director and star of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Scott Woltz, assures that such thought is blasphemy.

“You don’t have to have a religious background or a strong religious knowledge to understand what’s going on. You really don’t even need to know who Judas is because it’s all explained,” siad Woltz. “There might be jokes here and there that might be caught on by the people who have a better understanding of religion, but it really is a show that everybody can come see and understand.”

The play’s accessibility has a great deal to do with the language and speech patterns employed by Guirgis’ writing. Guirgis, a native New Yorker, applies the attitudes of modern-day New York to the setting of the play by using verbiage that one might easily hear in the Bronx or on the Upper East Side.

“The language is very contemporary, very urban. You can follow it, you can understand it,” explained Woltz. “It’s very humorous. We definitely updated it so it doesn’t have a classical feel to it.”

Another aspect of the play that adds to its accessibility is the wide ranging cast of characters it calls on. During the trial, testimony is heard from both fictitious and recognizable characters, Biblical figures and secular icons. In fact, everyone from the powerhouses of Jesus Christ and Satan are called to the stand.

“We go through fictional and non-fictional information about Judas. We hear testimony from different saints, Pontius Pilot, Sigmund Freud and Mother Teresa,” explained Woltz.

As Woltz continued, he repeatedly returned to the idea of ideals and spiritual quandaries. As is the case with anything spiritual or religious in nature, the play deals more with questions than it does answers. The Last Days of Judas Iscariot presents a number of questions within its relatively short running time and whether or not it answers any of them might be up to the interpretation of the audience.

“It goes along with the question of, ‘If God is all powerful, then why is he not all-forgiving as well?’. It talks about love, forgiveness, faith and truth,” said Woltz in the midst of a virtual laundry list of questions raised by the play. “Is Judas responsible for his own despair or was there some reason why Judas did it beyond the fact that he was just the betrayer that everyone knows him as? It touches on the idea of who Judas was and can that change who we think he is; and in turn, who we believe we are.”

Perhaps Woltz comes off as a bit overly sympathetic to Judas. That would be understandable given that, in addition to co-directing, he plays the title role.

“Judas is not the lead character, though. He is on stage the entire time, but he’s in a catatonic state. There are times where he comes out of it, but it’s really about the courtroom scene, the two lawyers, the judge and the testimonies you get to hear,” said Woltz.

While ideas such as a sympathetic Judas, the play could easily upset some religious stalwarts. However, the combination of levity and intensity lends itself to self-reflection for all.

The show will run through Sunday, December 7, so there are a number of opportunities for you to catch The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. However, as Woltz warned, theatre students are required to see the play which means long lines and some might be turned away. Woltz advises anyone looking to get a good seat with their $6 ticket (only available at the door) to get there early. There will be matinee performances in addition to the evening shows on Saturday and Sunday.

Originally Published: Issue 714 - December 3, 2008

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