Last Days of Judas Iscariot: A Play

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The Last Days of Judas Iscariot is a play by American playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis first staged Off-Broadway at The Public Theater on March 2, 2005, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman. Phillips, John (1986). Exploring the gospel of John: an expository commentary. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press. p. 254. ISBN 978-0-87784-567-6. The performances of the cast are nothing short of incredible. Rishi Sharma is an appropriately enigmatic Judas, keeping the audience guessing right until his heart-breaking emotional scene with Jesus (Jago Wainwright) at the end of the play. The two lawyers, Fabiana Aziza Cunningham (Roma Ellis) and Yusef El-Fayoumy (Ayush Prasad) skilfully develop a nuanced dynamic, moving beyond stereotypical banter into deeper emotional territory. Ellis in particular delivers a highly accomplished monologue as they tirade against Satan (Saul Bailey), allowing the audience a glimpse behind Cunningham’s façade of unshakeable confidence. In fact, the monologues of this production are where the cast really shine. Marie-Ange Camara is a hilarious Saint Monica, matching excellent physical comedy and great stage presence with emotional sensitivity and skilful character understanding. Katy Lawrence and Theo Rooney also deliver as Henrietta Iscariot and Saint Peter respectively. Owen Igiehon’s performance as Butch Honeywell, which closes the production, is close to perfect. He commands the stage with grace and talent, completely capturing the audience. Although the lengthy courtroom scenes suffered from some pacing issues, the strength of these monologues almost completely redeem the entire production. Briggs hopes the show sparks conversation among the audience members. “In my experience, the best shows are the ones that after you’re done watching them, you go home and say, ‘Let’s talk about that show.’” Ware, who once performed in a production of “Between Riverside and Crazy” in a former convent in Italy, describes Guirgis’ use of language as quite distinctive. “In this play, he mixes the reverent and the irreverent in a beautiful way,” she said. “A lot of profanity is used to punctuate a point.

Thomas Sullivan ’23, who plays Jesus of Nazareth, focused on adding spirituality to his performance. “The show really challenges you to look into yourself and explore your own morality and ideology,” he said. I felt that one of the weaknesses of this play itself was its being somewhat drawn out, the story being largely episodic, with different characters entering to be questioned by lawyers Cunningham and El-Fayoumy, then exiting, before another character entered to be questioned.Erasmus believed that Judas was free to change his intention, but Martin Luther argued in rebuttal that Judas's will was immutable. John Calvin states that Judas was predestined to damnation but writes on the question of Judas's guilt: "surely in Judas's betrayal, it will be no more right, because God himself willed that his son be delivered up and delivered him up to death, to ascribe the guilt of the crime to God than to transfer the credit for redemption to Judas." [93] Karl Daub, in his book Judas Ischariot, writes that Judas should be considered "an incarnation of the devil" for whom "mercy and blessedness are alike impossible." [94] Judas is the subject of philosophical writings. Origen of Alexandria, in his Commentary on John's Gospel, reflects on Judas's interactions with the other apostles and Jesus's confidence in him prior to his betrayal. [79] Other philosophical reflections on Judas include The Problem of Natural Evil by Bertrand Russell and " Three Versions of Judas", a short story by Jorge Luis Borges. They allege various problematic ideological contradictions with the discrepancy between Judas's actions and his eternal punishment. Bruce Reichenbach argues that if Jesus foresees Judas's betrayal, then the betrayal is not an act of free will [80] and therefore should not be punishable. Conversely, it is argued that just because the betrayal was foretold, it does not prevent Judas from exercising his own free will in this matter. [81] Other scholars argue that Judas acted in obedience to God's will. [82] The gospels suggest that Judas is apparently bound up with the fulfillment of God's purposes ( John 13:18, John 17:12, Matthew 26:23–25, Luke 22:21–22, Matt 27:9–10, Acts 1:16, Acts 1:20), [73] yet "woe is upon him", and he would "have been better unborn" ( Matthew 26:23–25). The difficulty inherent in the saying is its paradox: if Judas had not been born, the Son of Man would apparently no longer do "as it is written of him." The consequence of this apologetic approach is that Judas's actions come to be seen as necessary and unavoidable, yet leading to condemnation. [83] Another explanation is that Judas's birth and betrayal did not necessitate the only way the Son of Man could have suffered and been crucified. The earliest churches believed "as it is written of him" to be prophetic, fulfilling Scriptures such as that of the suffering servant in Isaiah 52–53 and the righteous one in Psalm 22, which do not require betrayal (at least by Judas) as the means to the suffering. Regardless of any necessity, Judas is held responsible for his act (Mark 14:21; Luke 22:22; Matt 26:24). [84] Brown, Raymond E. (1994). The Death of the Messiah: From Gethsemane to the Grave: A Commentary on the Passion Narratives in the Four Gospels v.1 pp. 688–92. New York: Doubleday/The Anchor Bible Reference Library. ISBN 0-385-49448-3; Meier, John P. A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus (2001). v. 3, p. 210. New York: Doubleday/The Anchor Bible Reference Library. ISBN 0-385-46993-4. Hans Urs von Balthasar (2000) [1990]. Mysterium Paschale. The Mystery of Easter. Translated by Aidan Nichols (2nded.). San Francisco: Ignatius Press. p. 77. ISBN 1-68149348-9. 1990 Edition. Spong, John Shelby (2010). The Easter Moment. New York City: HarperCollins. p.150. ISBN 978-0899007328.

a b "Ancient Manuscript Suggests Jesus Asked Judas to Betray Him". Fox News. New York City: News Corp. Associated Press. 6 April 2006. Archived from the original on 21 May 2013. Full disclosure, I went into this play after hearing about it from a friend and seeing some quotes (all from that final conversation!), and assumed it was a full-on drama. This is obviously inaccurate, a fact I learned the moment that Hope, Purgatory is introduced to us. I finished that play very disappointed months ago, and only last month did I go and give it a re-read (as well as watch a production of it on youtube). This re-read left a much better taste in my mouth, but I still was overwhelmingly disappointed.Whatever his motives, Judas led soldiers to the Garden of Gethsemane, where he identified Jesus by kissing him and calling him “Rabbi.” (Mark 14:44-46) According to the Gospel of Matthew, Judas immediately regretted his actions and returned the 30 pieces of silver to church authorities, saying “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” When the authorities dismissed him, Judas left the coins on the floor and committed suicide by hanging himself (Matthew 27:3-8). Reed, David A. (2005). " 'Saving Judas': A Social Scientific Approach to Judas' Suicide in Matthew 27:3–10" (PDF). Biblical Theology Bulletin. 35 (2): 51–59. doi: 10.1177/01461079050350020301. S2CID 144391749. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 June 2007 . Retrieved 26 June 2007. Although the canonical gospels frequently disagree on the names of some of the minor apostles, [25] all four of them list Judas Iscariot as one of them. [25] [9] The Synoptic Gospels state that Jesus sent out "the twelve" (including Judas) with power over unclean spirits and with a ministry of preaching and healing: Judas clearly played an active part in this apostolic ministry alongside the other eleven. [26] However, in the Gospel of John, Judas's outlook was differentiated—many of Jesus's disciples abandoned him because of the difficulty of accepting his teachings, and Jesus asked the twelve if they would also leave him. Simon Peter spoke for the twelve: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life," but Jesus observed then that despite the fact that he himself had chosen the twelve, one of them (unnamed by Jesus, but identified by the narrator) was "a devil" who would betray him. [27]

In a time-bending corner of Purgatory called Hope, Judas is on trial for his betrayal of Jesus, his soul left in the balance. Through the testimonies of larger-than-life biblical and historical characters such as Mother Teresa, Sigmund Freud and Satan, Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Adly Guirgis’ provocative and irreverently funny play forces us to examine our ideas of love, divine mercy, free will and forgiveness, searching for the line between good and evil. Performance Dates & Times To sum up, this fantastic production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot is a must-see show where the hard work of the cast and crew shines through in every moment. A truly splendid piece of work. 4.5/5 stars.Many different accounts of Judas's death have survived from antiquity, both within and outside the New Testament. [36] [37] Matthew 27:1–10 states that after learning that Jesus was to be crucified, Judas was overcome by remorse and attempted to return the 30 pieces of silver to the priests, but they would not accept them because they were blood money, so he threw them on the ground and left. Afterwards, he committed suicide by hanging himself [38] according to Mosaic law ( Deuteronomy 21:22–23 [39]). The priests then used the money to buy a potter's field, which became known as Akeldama (חקל דמא – khakel dama) – the Field of Blood – because it had been bought with blood money. [38] Acts 1:18 states that Judas used the money to buy a field, [38] [40] and "[fell] headlong... burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out." [38] In this account, Judas's death is apparently by accident, [38] and he shows no signs of remorse. [38] Set in purgatory, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot follows a court case determining if Judas should be forgiven for betraying Jesus, or condemned for all eternity. “It asks whether or not forgiveness is a concept that we can grant other individuals, or whether or not it is an internal idea that has to come from the individual first,” said director Ernest Briggs. Asking larger questions about religion, society, and justice, the play features characters ranging from Jesus, Judas, and Satan to Mother Teresa and Sigmund Freud.

Judas has been a figure of great interest to esoteric groups, such as many Gnostic sects. Irenaeus records the beliefs of one Gnostic sect, the Cainites, who believed that Judas was an instrument of the Sophia, Divine Wisdom, thus earning the hatred of the Demiurge. His betrayal of Jesus thus was a victory over the materialist world. The Cainites later split into two groups, disagreeing over the ultimate significance of Jesus in their cosmology. And there are fine cameos from Gawn Grainger as Caiaphas seeking divine, rather than human, forgiveness and from Dona Croll as a bewinged angel. Controversy surrounds the Gospel of Judas, as some scholars have argued that the National Geographic Society’s version represented a mistranslation of the Coptic text and that the public was wrongly made to believe the document portrayed a “noble Judas.” In any case, the fact that the Gospel of Judas was written at least a century after Jesus and Judas died means that it provides little in the way of historically reliable information about their lives, and certainly doesn’t provide the missing link to understanding Judas Iscariot’s true motivations. What gives the play its life is that Guirgis handles big issues with comic flair. Simon the Zealot, for instance, recalls that, after the riot at the Temple, Jesus was "like I'm going to die soon so let's just chill". Guirgis is making a serious point: that, if betrayal is the ultimate sin, then forgiveness is the ultimate sign of grace. These are matters rarely debated on the London stage; and Goold's production gives full weight to Guirgis's rich text. Anthony Ward's design surrounds the action with a circular screen full of technicolour urban images.Dimont, Max I. (1962). Jews, God & History (2ed.). New York City: New American Library. p. 135. ISBN 978-0451146946.