THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISACRIOT @ BELVOIR STREET, DOWNSTAIRS

ACTT_Judas_Dress Run_Belvoir St Theatre_2015 ACTT_Judas_Dress Run_Belvoir St Theatre_2015 ACTT_Judas_Dress Run_Belvoir St Theatre_2015

During October and November, The Actors College Of Theatre and Television (ACTT) is presenting six unique student productions, to elegantly showcase the talents of their graduating Advanced Diploma acting students.

Their first  production in time, American playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis’ THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISACRIOT, has already taken place. JUDAS, expertly directed by John O’Hare, played the Belvoir Street Theatre between the 6th and 10th October

Giurgis’ play goes back some time. The play debuted Off-Broadway in 2005 directed by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman and had its first West End production was in 2008. 

The piece tells the story of a court case over the ultimate fate of Judas Isacriot, Intriguingly it uses flashbacks to his imagined childhood, and lawyers call for the testimonies of such witnesses as Mother Teresa, Calaphas, Saint Monica, Sigmund Freud and Satan.

It was good to see Guirgis’ work performed by a student company. With its large cast- some twenty roles, with some doubling ‘allowed’, it is very unlikely that a mainstream company would consider producing  it.

O’Hare’s production saw twelve very well trained actors passionately take up the challenge. And quite a challenge it was! The play ran for a high octane 160 minutes with just one interval.  There were frequent costume changes and different accents used so the audience could differentiate character with the doubling up of some actors. I particularly enjoyed the consummate performance of Jacob Thomas in the lead role.

O’Hare’s decision to ‘localise’  the play and feature some interesting Australian content worked well.

A major reservation I had with this play was the frequent use of aggressive, very coarse language. The young audience on the night loved it however I think many theatre-goers would find it very unnecessary and hard going, and amounts to another reason that this play is unlikely to be performed regularly in  Sydney.

CAST LIST:-

Alana Birties as Mother Teresa (male/female), Gloria (female), Sister Glenna (female), Soldier Four (male/female)

Alison Bernstead as Satan (male/female), Matthias of Galilee (male/female)

Barbara Papathanasopoulos as Saint Monica (female), Loretta (female), Soldier Three (male/female)

Brit Yates as Fabiana Aziz Cunningham (female)

Gagik Apozyan as Pontius Pilate (male), Saint Thomas (male), Uncle Pino (male)

Gavin Christensen as Judas Iscariot (male)

Jacob Thomas as Jesus of Nazarath (male)

Michael Waiton as Judge Littlefield (male/female), Caiaphas the Elder (male), Saint Matthew (male)

Nicholas McGlynn as Bailiff (male/female), Solier Two (male/female), Saint Peter (male), Simon the Zealot (male)

Olivia Stokes as Henrietta Iscariot (female), Mary Magadelene (female)

Olivier Vergari as Yusef El-Famoumy (male)

Ryan Peters as Butch Honeywell (male), Sigmund Freud (role not in original version)