LAST TRIAL OF JUDAS ISCARIOT SOFTWARE
LAST TRIAL OF JUDAS ISCARIOT TRIAL

A scene from the Hub Theatre Company production of “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.” Photo: courtesy of the theater. Though the play suggests there are realms of Heaven and Hell, the line between damnation and salvation is as blurry here (wherever “here” is) as in the everyday world.

LAST TRIAL OF JUDAS ISCARIOT TRIAL

But he’s short-tempered throughout the trial and clearly biased against Judas - not to mention that he shares a chummy repartee with Satan. The judge (Robert Orzalli), for instance, is supposed to be the impartial arbiter of the proceedings. Who really deserves redemption? Is there a transgression so great that a person can’t ever find forgiveness? The script doesn’t embrace easy moral absolutes - each character has their own strengths and failings. The stakes raised by Judas’s case are high, and they bring questions to mind that are well worth considering. But Guirgis’s clever writing and the ensemble’s performing chops combine to keep the courtroom antics engaging. Last Days is a fairly lengthy play, running for about two and a half hours with a brief intermission. As jury member Butch Honeywell, Dan Prior isn’t given very much to do throughout most of the piece, but his closing monologue, addressed to Judas, is deeply moving. Blyss Cleveland’s effervescent performance turns Saint Monica into a spitfire of tough love. Among the stand-outs, Shopov gives the Devil a spark of charismatic warmth - the demon can go from charming to terrifying at the flip of a switch. Guided by director Steven Bogart, they skillfully handle the play’s riotously funny stretches as well as its moments of earnest soul-searching. The result is a study of the perplexing messiness of guilt and redemption, set in a courtroom that spans just about all of time and space.Ī script with this many characters buzzing about demands a strong cast - fortunately, Hub’s terrific ensemble is more than up to the task. Thomas (Jon Vellante), Mother Teresa and Sigmund Freud (both Arthur Waldstein) - even Satan (Victor Shopov) kicks in his two cents. We hear from Mary Magdalene (Enosa Ogbeide), St. They call a slew of cultural figures as witnesses, each offering a take on who Judas is and what his betrayal represents.

His case is argued by Fabiana Cunningham (Lauren Elias), one of Purgatory’s brightest young defense lawyers, against prosecutor El Fayoumy (Maurice Palmer). Stephen Adly Guirgis’s play is difficult to sum up concisely, but it revolves around a trial that is to decide the fate of Judas’s soul. He might have more of a shot than he thinks. What chance is there that his prayers will be answered? It’s hard not to be pulled into the infamous villain’s hopelessness. For much of the production, Judas (Cristhian Mancinas-Garcia) sits at the foot of these walls in stony silence. The Hub Theatre Company’s production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot transforms this hall, meant for spiritual gathering, into a pit of despair. What begins with conventional rows of pews opens into an off-kilter puzzle of a room, with balconies jutting out at sharp angles and the space’s rear walls reaching so high up you have to crane your neck to spot the ceiling. The sanctuary at the First Church in Boston is an unusual space. Cristhian Mancinas-Garcia in a scene from the Hub Theatre Company production of “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.” Photo: courtesy of the theater. Staged by Hub Theatre Company at the First Church in Boston, 66 Marlborough Street, Boston, MA, through November 23. The Last Days of Judas Iscariot by Stephen Adly Guirgis.

Sykes’ work resulted in the use of a variety of sounds and scores for the show, from piano to computer-generated audio.A script with this many characters buzzing about demands a strong cast - fortunately, Hub Theatre’s terrific ensemble is more than up to the task.

LAST TRIAL OF JUDAS ISCARIOT SOFTWARE

“I spent a lot of time playing and editing/adapting different software instruments and sounds to try and find the right pieces,” he said. Sound designer Alex Sykes noted how this meant that, rather than taking pieces of audio (such as a song) from a time period, he had to conceptualize the sound and create his own soundscapes for the show. However, this particular production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot has a more contemporary feel, especially with the technical elements. The show doesn’t specify a decade, or even century that it belongs to – the setting is a courtroom in purgatory, a place where time isn’t linear. Photo by Julie Luth.Īctor Jane Smith explained the premise of Guirgis’s play: “ The Last Days of Judas Iscariot allows audiences to have front row seats as the jury… When the case of Judas Iscariot is called and ultimately included on the docket, witnesses with different past lives, careers, and reputations cycle in and out of the courtroom.” Isaiah Alton as prosecuting attorney Yusuf El-Fayoumy.

Last trial of judas iscariot