The Last Days of Judas Iscariot
Rarely do we write about theater on local city college campuses;
but the Long Beach City College production of "The Last Days of
Judas Iscariot" deserves every ounce of attention it gets.
The subject of Stephen Adly Guirgis's controversial comedy is so
provocative, so demanding, it's a tribute to everyone involved with
LBCC's superb presentation of it.
Hosannas go first and foremost to director Gregory Mortensen,
whose creative vision of Guirgis' material, and determination not to
give in to the nabobs who tried to derail it, led to its enormous
success.
Based on little-known, historical facts, "The Last Trial of Judas
Iscariot" is so sophisticated, some fundamentalists have bullheadedly
called it blasphemous. Not so. Following in the footsteps of
Moliere through Durang, it holds a mirror up to mankind and laughs at
itself.
Kudos go to Silulu A'etonu, who does a bang-up job portraying the
feisty attorney who defends poor Judas; Emmanuel Plascencia, who
plays the flamboyant prosecutor who's out to bury him alive; and
Scott Calhoun, the bombastic trial judge, who bellows from the bench
at everyone in the courtroom.
From the very get-go, it's obvious that a lot of hard work went
into this production. Not only are the usual Biblical suspects
called to testify, contemporary characters are also called as
witnesses. Everyone agrees that Jesus (Charles Sanchez) and Judas
(Jonathan Wong) were close friends; but beyond that there is a wide
range of speculation.
Mark Vail does a devil of a good job portraying Satan; Paul Tully
is evil incarnate as Pontius Pilate; Chariot Jones is riotous as the
"hot-ready-to-trot" St. Monica; and Marc Simoes is totally
convincing as the self-righteous Calaphas the Elder.
Add Ron Pinkerton as a looney Sigmund Freud, and Meghan
Sauerheber as a dithering Mother Teresa, and you have quite a pool of
over-the-top characters to consider.
Credit goes to each person in the large 36-member cast; and to
Daniel Wheeler, who turned the stage into a surreal sky-blue
celestial court-room surrounded by fleecy white clouds. Dress
everyone in Cathy Crane's colorful costumes (appropriate to each
character) and Judas' trial becomes a treat to behold.
This LBCC production is fast-paced, thought-provoking, well-acted
and entertaining. What more could anyone ask for? Unfortunately, it
has a very short run. For ticket information: call (562) 938-4563,
or go on line at www.tdf.lbcc.edu before Feb. 28.