Pat Launer on San Diego Theater
TEASER: “Judas Iscariot” onstage PLUS, What’s coming
up on San Diego theater in 2010
http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-01-07/things-to-do/theater-things-to-do/2010-theater-preview-plus-judas-iscariot-review-news
By Pat Launer, SDNN
January 7, 2010
Saints
and Sinners
THE SHOW: “The
Last Days of Judas Iscariot,” a 2005 trial
drama/comedy/fantasy by Stephen Adly Guirgis, presented by Triad Productions
Judas is there. And his mother, Henrietta. Also Mary Magdalene and St. Monica. And Jesus takes the
stage. Even Mother Teresa and Sigmund Freud are called to the stand. And Satan
has his say. Certainly a trial to remember.
The setting is Purgatory and a soul is at stake. Does Judas deserve to
spend eternity in Hell? Or is there another side to his story? What, really,
are the parameters and limits of forgiveness?
Acclaimed New York playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis (author of “Jesus Hopped the A-Train,” “Our Lady of
121st Street,” and “In Arabia We’d All Be Kings,” all excellently
presented by local theaters), has clearly done his homework. There’s a lot of
Biblical scholarship on display here, and also plenty of speculation, fantasy,
rough language, downtown sensibility and downright humor. The play had its premiere in 2005 at The
Public Theatre, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, who is, with Guirgis, co-founder of
A wildly disparate array of witnesses – past and present, fictional and
historical – is called to the stand. The provocative, often contradictory
responses highlight the controversies inherent in conventional perspectives of
the New Testament’s Baddest Boy, and point up the
challenges of his era, the choices each person involved was forced to make, and
the process by which the Bible was written. One of the play’s most challenging
questions is: Can we forgive ourselves for our trespasses? And
the most mystifying: If God is truly all-forgiving, why was Judas condemned to
Hell without reprieve?
The prosecuting attorney in the Judas case is a sleazy womanizer, Yusef El Fayoumy (Kris Zarif, losing killer comic lines by racing through them).
Arguing for the defense is a very attractive woman, Fabiana
Aziza Cunningham (Samantha Ginn, striking, assertive
and convincing). Both characters have considerable personal problems, but that
doesn’t get in the way of their hard-hitting cross-examinations. Particularly
intriguing are the arguments from Pontius Pilate (Merrick McCartha)
and Caiaphas the Elder (Charles Peters).
In some sense, the success of the language- and idea-rich play rests on a
uniformly strong cast. Triad Productions, an edgy young company that focuses on
youth-friendly work and local premieres (this is its fourth), certainly has the
energy, enthusiasm, chutzpah and conviction. But the ensemble is uneven, both
in dramatic experience and acting acumen. There is an overall tendency toward
insufficient projection, clarity and speaking rate.
Still, the result is satisfying, thought-provoking, intense, and at
times, very funny. The director, Stephen Schmitz, who acquitted himself well as
an actor in Triad’s production of “Red Light Winter,” has assembled a large
cast – 15 actors playing 24 characters. Those who anchor the proceedings keep us
riveted. James Cota is anguished and agonized as the
catatonic title character. Patrick Kelly has an aptly ethereal quality as Jesus
of Nazareth. Scott Andrew Amiotte is especially tasty
as a hard-edged, low-life Satan, skulking ominously around in a red silk shirt.
In a brief appearance, Anna Rebek is gripping as
Judas’ mother, and Joseph Tyrer’s play-ending
monologue, as a faithless and doomed modern husband, is forceful in making the
whole historical disquisition persuasively relevant.
It doesn’t matter what your religion or religious beliefs may be. This is
less about Judas than about the potential for acceptance in each of us – for
each other and ourselves. In this age of ‘truthiness,’ it’s comforting to hear
the words we all should live by, even if they spew from Satan’s lips: “I don’t
believe in good and bad. What I believe in is truth.” Hard to
come by, elusive to capture, but always worth the pursuit.
THE LOCATION: Triad Productions at the Tenth Avenue Theatre,
THE DETAILS: Tickets:
$13-20. Thursday-Saturday at 8 p.m., , Sunday at 5 p.m., through January 30. Special
Industry Night on Monday 1/11 and Pay What You Can performance on Sunday 1/17.
ON
THE HORIZON: What’s coming up on
As the year kicks off, another new page is
turned in the theater playbook. It’s exhilarating to look ahead and see what’s
coming to local theaters. 2009 was such a strong theater year, despite the
sagging economy, that there are high expectations for 2010. Not that the
economy will be any better, but theater artists are eternally optimistic,
impassioned and ready for action. So we can expect some exciting work, new and
old, to come down the pike.
MUSIC
For the musical lover, there will be much
to applaud. Broadway San Diego is bringing in the Tony award-winning Best
Musical of 2008, “In the Heights,” set in
Cygnet Theatre is presenting “Sweeney
Todd,” my Sondheim favorite (3/18-4/25). North Coast Repertory Theatre is
premiering a new version of “Little Women,” being billed as ‘a play with
music,’ adapted by Jacqueline Goldfinger, who created their delightful annual
“Christmas Carol” (2/20-3/14). That production also brings back Kirsten Brandt,
former artistic director of Sledgehammer Theatre, to direct. A very welcome
return! Coronado Playhouse is taking a big leap with “Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party,” based on a cynical
1926 poem about
The La Jolla Playhouse hasn’t yet announced
its next season, and on the heels of “Bonnie and Clyde” and the Broadway opening
of “
DRAMA
If drama’s your
thing, there’ll be plenty of it (probably onstage and off!) this year. A few
plays that I’m looking forward to: “The Piano Lesson” at Cygnet Theatre, part
of August
And speaking of
Shakespeare, Bardophiles should be sated by: the
Globe’s “King Lear” and “Taming of the Shrew” this summer; The San Diego Shakespeare
Society’s year-full of 10th anniversary celebrational events; and
Intrepid Shakespeare Company’s second season of full productions and ‘Free
Will’ Shakespeare readings.
COMEDY
We all need our
comic relief, and there’s never a shortage of comedies in town. The best, in my
opinion, have a little darkness and depth, too. In that category, consider:
“Culture Clash in AmeriCCa” at the San Diego
Repertory Theatre (2/18-3/7), by those Latino L.A. wildmen
– and a workshop of CC member Herbert Siguenza’s solo
play, “A Weekend With Pablo Picasso” (3/21-4/21), sure to be at least partly
comical, if he’s doing it; “Speech and Debate” at Diversionary Theatre
(3/25-4/11), about three small-town teen misfits who are linked by a local sex
scandal; “Boom,” at the San Diego Repertory Theatre (1/9-1/31), a sort of
futuristic farce about young people, bombs, the end of the world, and a plan
for its re-population; the late Wendy Wasserstein’s Pulitzer Prize winner, “The
Heidi Chronicles,” concerning the coming of age, feminism, and disillusionment
of a young American woman in the 1980s, at
Many companies
haven’t announced their full seasons yet, so there’s plenty more to come. But
this should whet the appetite of any theaterlover. Bon appétit!!
NEWS
AND VIEWS
… Passing the torch:
Thirteen year-old Becca Myers has a leading role in the California Youth Conservatory’s
… Dramatically Operatic: The San Diego Opera and XLNC1 are teaming up to launch an
hour-long radio program that will precede each upcoming Metropolitan Opera
broadcast. The 17 segments of “Opera
Matters” will be hosted by SDO’s Geisel Director
of Education Dr. Nicolas Reveles. The first show airs
at 9 a.m. on January 16, before the Met broadcast of “Carmen.” XLNC1 will also
be the home of San Diego Opera’s 2010 season radio broadcasts, which air on
Sunday at 7 p.m., a week after each opera closes. Listen at 104.9 FM, or online
at www.xlnc1.org
… Patté on a Platter: Feast on a
smorgasbord of local talent. Attend The
13th Annual Patté Awards for Theater Excellence, a gala
community celebration that honors the Best of the Best of San Diego
theatermakers. Monday, January 18, 2010. Tickets are at
www.thepattefoundation.org.
PAT’S PICKS: BEST
BETS
v “Expecting Isabel,” Moxie Theatre,
through 2/7
v “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” –
rich, deep, funny, provocative (in concepts and language)
Triad
Productions at the
Pat Launer is the
SDNN theater critic.
To
read any of her prior reviews, type ‘Pat Launer,’ and the name of the play of
interest, into the SDNN Search box.