''The Last Days of Judas Iscariot'' is a play by American playwright

Stephen Adly Guirgis Stephen Adly Guirgis (born 1965) is an American playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor. He is a member and a former co-artistic director of New York City's LAByrinth Theater Company. His plays have been produced both Off-Broadway and on ...

first staged

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

The Public Theater The Public Theater is an arts organization in New York City. Founded by Joseph Papp, The Public Theater was originally the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954; its mission was to support emerging playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: ...

on March 2, 2005, directed by

Philip Seymour Hoffman Philip Seymour Hoffman (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive supporting and character actor, character roles—eccentrics, underdogs, and misfits—he acted in many films and theatrical productio ...

Plot summary

''The Last Days of Judas Iscariot'' tells the story of a court case over the ultimate fate of

Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot (; ; died AD) was, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. Judas betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin in the Garden of Gethsemane, in exchange for thirty pieces of sil ...

. The play uses flashbacks to an imagined childhood and lawyers who call for the testimonies of such witnesses as

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, ; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa or Saint Mother Teresa, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic Church, Roman Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of ...

Caiaphas Joseph ben Caiaphas (; c. 14 BC – c. 46 AD) was the High Priest of Israel during the first century. In the New Testament, the Gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew, Gospel of Luke, Luke and Gospel of John, John indicate he was an organizer of ...

Saint Monica Monica ( – 387) was an early North African Christian saint and the mother of Augustine of Hippo. She is remembered and honored in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, albeit on different feast days, for her outstanding Christian virtues, partic ...

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

, and

Satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

Productions

Off-Broadway

The original production premiered Off-Broadway in a Labyrinth Theatre Company production at the Public Theatre on March 2, 2005, and closed on April 3, 2005. Directed by

, the cast included

Eric Bogosian Eric Michael Bogosian (; born April 24, 1953) is an American actor, playwright, monologuist, novelist, and historian. Descended from Armenian-American immigrants, he grew up in Watertown and Woburn, Massachusetts, and attended the University ...

(Satan), Liza Colón-Zayas (Gloria/Mother Teresa/Ensemble),

Jeffrey DeMunn Jeffrey P. DeMunn (born April 25, 1947) is an American stage, film, and television actor known for playing Captain Esteridge in '' The Hitcher'' (1986), Sheriff Herb Geller in '' The Blob'' (1988), Andrei Chikatilo in '' Citizen X'' (1995), Harry ...

(Judge Littlefield/Caiaphas the Elder/St. Matthew), Yetta Gottesman (Loretta/Mary Magdalene/Ensemble), Craig muMs Grant (Matthias of Galilee/Delayne/St. Peter/Soldier 2/Ensemble), Stephen McKinley Henderson (Pontius Pilate/Uncle Pino), Salvatore Inzerillo (Bailiff/Simon the Zealot/Ensemble), Adrian Martinez (Boaz the Assyrian Thief/Sigmund Freud/St. Thomas/Soldier 1),

John Ortiz John Augustin Ortiz (born May 23, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for his antagonist role as Arturo Braga in '' Fast & Furious'' (2009) and ''Fast & Furious 6'' (2013), and Clyde in '' Jack Goes Boating'' (2010), which earned him a nom ...

(Jesus of Nazareth),

Sam Rockwell Sam Rockwell (born November 5, 1968) is an American actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for playing troubled police officer Jason Dixon in ''Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'' (2017). He was nominated i ...

(Judas Iscariot), Elizabeth Rodriguez (Saint Monica/Soldier 3/Ensemble),

Deborah Rush Deborah Rush (born April 10, 1954) is an American actress. She has worked in television, film and on Broadway. In 1984, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for Michael Frayn's comedy ''Noise ...

(Henrietta Iscariot/Sister Glenna/Ensemble), Kohl Sudduth (Butch Honeywell, Ensemble),

Callie Thorne Callie Thorne is an American actress known for her role as Dr. Dani Santino on the USA Network series '' Necessary Roughness''. She is also known for past work such as her roles on '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' as Detective Laura Ballard, a ...

(Fabiana Aziza Cunningham), and

Yul Vázquez Yul Vazquez (born March 18, 1965) is a Cuban-American actor and musician. He has appeared in '' Runaway Bride'' (1999), ''Bad Boys II'' (2003), '' War of the Worlds'' (2005), '' American Gangster'' (2007), ''The A-Team'' (2010), '' Captain Phill ...

(Yusef El-Fayoumy). It was designed by Andromache Chalfant.Sommer, Elyse
"Review: ''The Last Days of Judas Iscariot''
CurtainUp.com, February 27, 2005 James Martin served as a theological adviser.

London

The original London/European Premiere was at the

Almeida Theatre The Almeida Theatre is a 325-seat producing house located on Almeida Street off Upper Street in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre opened in 1980, and produces a diverse range of drama. Successful plays are often transferred to West E ...

, and was directed by

Rupert Goold Rupert Goold (born 18 February 1972) is an English director who works primarily in theatre. He is the artistic director of the Almeida Theatre, and was the artistic director of Headlong Theatre Company (2005–2013). Since 2010, Goold has be ...

, and it ran from 28 March to 10 May 2008. The cast included (in order of appearance)

Amanda Boxer Amanda Boxer (born 1948) is an English theatre, television, and film actress. She is perhaps best known for her role in the film ''Saving Private Ryan'' (1998). Early life Boxer was born in London, the daughter of English scholar C.R. Boxer a ...

(Henrietta Iscariot),

Doña Croll Doña Croll (born 29 August 1953) is a Jamaican-born British actress. She is best known for her roles in soap operas, playing Pearl McHugh in Channel 5's ''Family Affairs'', Vera Corrigan in ''Doctors'', and Emerald Fox in ''EastEnders'', bo ...

(Gloria/Mother Teresa), Corey Johnson (Judge/Saint Peter), John Macmillan (Bailiff/Simon the Zealot),

Susan Lynch Susan Lynch (born 1971) is an actress from Northern Ireland. She is known for her role in the 2003 film '' 16 Years of Alcohol''. Her other film appearances include '' Waking Ned Devine'' (1998), '' Nora'' (2000), '' Beautiful Creatures'' (200 ...

(Fabiana Aziza Cunningham), Mark Lockyer (Yusef El-Fayoumy), Jessika Williams (St Monica), Poppy Miller (Loretta/Sister Glenna/Mary Magdalene),

Ron Cephas Jones Ron Cephas Jones (; January 8, 1957 – August 19, 2023) was an American actor, best known for his role as William Hill in the drama series ''This Is Us'' (2016–2022), which earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award; along with four consecutive ...

(Uncle Pino/Pontius Pilate), Shane Attwooll (Butch Honeywell),

Joseph Mawle Joseph Daniel Turner Mawle (born 21 March 1974) is an English actor. Mawle is best known for his roles as Jesus Christ in ''The Passion (TV serial), The Passion'' (2008), Benjen Stark in ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2017), Pete in ''Shell (2012 f ...

(Judas Iscariot), Josh Cohen (Matthias of Galilee/Freud/St Thomas), Gawn Grainger (St Matthew/Caiaphas the Elder),

Douglas Henshall Douglas James "Dougie" Henshall (born 19 November 1965) is a Scottish television, film and stage actor. He is best known for his roles as Professor Nick Cutter in the science fiction series ''Primeval (TV series), Primeval'' (2007–2011) and D ...

(Satan) and Edward Hogg (Jesus of Nazareth). It was designed by Anthony Ward.

Barbican Centre

''The Last Days of Judas Iscariot'' had a short run at the Barbican Centre's Milton Court Theatre in October 2018, directed by Wyn Jones. The cast included (in order of appearance) Kristina Tonteri-Young (Henrietta Iscariot), Matthew Nikitow (Judas Iscariot), Laurel Waghorn (Jesus), Uri Levy (Angel Gloria / Caiaphas), Jordan Angell (Judge Littlefield), Dan Hazel (Butch Honeywell). The designer was Libby Watson, with Lewis Hannaby as lighting designer and Ben Hagle as sound designer.

The University of California: Santa Barbara

''The Last Days of Judas Iscariot'' ran during May and into June 2023 at the University of California: Santa Barbara. The production was directed by Kendra Ware and the cast consisted of Abbs Stoiber (Jesus / Loretta), Abraham Figueroa (Caiaphas / Uncle Pino), Ahlora Smith (Cunningham), Desiree Medina (Saint Monica), Frances Manthorpe (Gloria / Soldier 2), Hind Jadallah-Karraa (Henrietta Iscariot / Sister Glenna), Holden Overbeck (Satan / Matthias), Jonah Spitler (Sigmund Freud / Simon the Zealot), Kyle Brasher (Bailiff / Saint Peter / Soldier 1), Micheal Lao (El-Fayoumy), Michael Seitz (Judas), Nick Enea (Butch Honeywell / Saint Thomas / Soldier 3), Preston Jones (Pontius Pilate / Saint Matthew), Rytasha Kumardeen (Mother Teresa / Mary Magdalene), and Roy Ernster (Judge Littlefield). The production’s design team included Ann Sheffield as Scenic Designer, Adriana Lámbarri as Costume Designer, Azra King-Abadi as Lighting Designer, Daniel Kelly as Sound Designer, and Denise Umland as Special Effects Makeup Artist.

Texas OAP Contest Rogers theatre

Rogers theatre produced the play, In a one act form for the UIL competition in spring 2025 District 19 AAA. Directed by Alicia Green, who obtained permission from the playwright. They advanced from district, to bi-district, area competition, and competed at regionals, receiving 3rd place (alternate), and won numerous awards, to include: 9 all-star cast, 5 honorable mention all-star cast, 3 best crew awards.

Reception

''The Last Days of Judas Iscariot'' was received fairly positively. Curtain Up gave it a positive review, specially mentioning

's portrayal of Satan. ''NY Mag'' however said that for $50 a ticket, "LAB might eventually want to put forth a finished product." The original West End production was met with almost unanimously positive reviews, ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' calling it "funny, profound and wildly entertaining", praising "sensational performances". Charles Spencer of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' starting his review with "it's hard to know where to begin with this astonishing play that knocked me for six at the Almeida", and finishing with "Guirgis and Goold have a sensational hit on their hands."

Times Online ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fo ...

however gave it 3 stars out of 5, saying "too much New York, maybe. One doesn’t want an earnestly pious, reverential play. But do we want one which tries to make big, big issues palatable by coating them not with sugar but, at times, with bubblegum?""Review"
timesonline.co.uk

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Last Days Of Judas Iscariot 2005 plays Plays based on books Off-Broadway plays West End plays Plays by Stephen Adly Guirgis Cultural depictions of Judas Iscariot Cultural depictions of Mother Teresa Cultural depictions of Pontius Pilate Stage portrayals of Jesus