The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (newtown theatre) review

Long time reader, but not a poster till now, but had to let everyone know about a sensational little play that I saw the opening night of last night at the Newtown Theatre. I highly recommend this show as one of the the most thought provoking shows I've seen recently - my friend and I didn't stop talking about it for hours after. It's called The Last Days of Judas Iscariot and its an australian premiere of a play from america. In fact I read in the notes that it was originally directed by Phillip Seymor Hoffman! This production is directed by Jay James-Moody who has done an excellent job of making what is a great script even more entertaining with moments of wackiness and burst out loud laughing and balancing it with some very intense drama. The set is minimilistic but really striking and the lighting is very slick and imaginative for what is essentially a really contained sort of piece. The story is about a lawyer who starts an appeal in a court in Hell to get Judas Iscariot into heaven even though he betrayed. I'm not overly religious but I knew the story vaguely but they provide you with a 'back-story' flyer when you get your ticket that really sets the tone for what you're gonna see! The cast is huge for such a small space with a whole lot of different characters like Mother Theresa, Dr Frued and Satan all giving their opinions on Judas. Every actor in this show is great. The girl who plays the lead lawyer, Trish Nicholls has a hard task playing 'straight-man' (or woman) to such colourful characters but she definately hold her own. The other lawyer is played by Michael Demosthenous and he is one of the funniest people I have seen on stage in a long time his scene with STephen Lloyd-Coombs playing Simon the Zealot kind of like Ali G had me hurting from laughter. Other stands outs are Marie-Louise Jolicoeur as St Monica who is a trash talking disco queen who helps get the case into court and Tim Ailwood as Satan who is just.... bizarre. Just when you think he's kind of normal he does something quirky. On the dramatic side of things Alex Wallace has a hard job of staying on stage still and silent for almost three hours but when he comes to life he is very powerful especially in his scene with Jesus (another great performance). His mother is played by Ros Bilbe who opening the play on a very melancholy note, but plays Mother Theresa in way she's never been seen before. Some of the points they bring up about her I didn't believe but I'm told its all true. Like I said very thought provooking. The play is a scream but ends with a very stirring monologue that makes you think about betrayal and remorse at its simplest and most human level and was, really, very overwhelming as delivered by the actor Joshua Hamilton who isn't really seen until then. Now, the downside. The play is long - about three hours and drags in a few spots, but when it picks up again its at its very best. I guess you wouldn't notice it was that long if it wasn't for the seating at the NEwtown theatre which is not the most comfortable, but I'd put up with it a second time to see the play again. It wasn't a big crowd there but the audience was having a great time and talking about the play at interval and afterwards so I think word of mouth will be tops for this production, which is why I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to be entertained and challenged at the same time. AWesome stuff - can't wait to see what these people come up with next. THe flyer says its on till August 19 and lists the website as www.squabbalogic.com - you'd be crazy to miss it!