Theatre Review: 'The Last Days of Judas Iscariot' Gives Traitor Day in Court

THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
By Philip Brandes

CALIFORNIA---Judas Iscariot: Worst friend ever or fall guy in a greater plan for the salvation of mankind? Stephen Adly Guirgis’ “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” explores differing perspectives on the Christian canon’s most reviled figure through the secular prism of a legal courtroom. In Breedlove Productions’ resurrected revival at the Hudson Backstage, a new director and tightened focus nicely balance Guirgis’ edgy, irreverent humor and underlying seriousness of purpose while skirting most of the potential to bog down in doctrinal minutiae. When it comes to verdicts, novelist William Gaddis once wrote, “You get justice in the next world, in this world you have the law.” The staging’s powerful conclusion underscores our tragic disconnect between the two. [link]

Talk about your jury duty from hell: a purgatory court hears Caiaphas the Elder (John Szura) testify for prosecutor Yusef El-Fayoumy (Robert Paterno) in "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot." (Breedlove Productions)