Heaven or hell?

In Stephen Adly Guirgis’ play The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, the generally accepted characterization of Judas as the man who sold out Jesus is given a thorough re-examination. And for its final dramatic offering of the semester (opening Thursday, Nov. 12, in Wismer Theatre), Chico State’s theater department, with professor Katie Whitlock directing, is taking on the history and diving into the contentious waters of biblical scholarship.

Before the first dress rehearsal this past Monday, as the crew quietly shuffled around the perimeter of the dark black-box theater amid the glow of a bank of busy laptops, Judas (played by Lee Pollero) was already in place. The theater was divided in half, with the seats facing each other from two opposing walls. To one side was a long, narrow stage, with a ramp protruding from its center like a giant cross and extending down across the length of the room to a rocky outcropping where a silent Judas in ragged clothes sat crouched in near darkness. And that’s where he remained for nearly the entire play, a mute witness to the proceedings who came to life mostly only in flashbacks.

The play’s primary setting is a courtroom in purgatory where a trial unfolds with the aim of deciding whether Judas Iscariot goes up or down. There is the male prosecutor from hell (literally) Yusef El-Fayoumy (played by Korey James Emslie) and a female defense lawyer from purgatory, Fabiana Aziza Cunningham (Gerilyn Brault). Under the direction of a cantankerous, Jack Daniels-swilling judge (James Dugan), the two attorneys question a wide variety of witnesses about the details and nature of Judas’ choices: Pontius Pilate, Satan, Mother Teresa, Sigmund Freud and Caiaphas the Elder, the Jewish high priest who oversaw the trial of Jesus, according to the New Testament.

Additionally, there are several flashback scenes from Judas’ imagined childhood and first-person memories by the likes of Saint Thomas the Apostle and Mary Magdalene interjected into the play.

As we hear from each character, the differing views on the details about Judas’ actions in the last days of the life of Jesus are brought forth (Did Judas try to recant and give back the ransom money after ratting on him?). So too is a range of general questions about the nature of God, love, forgiveness, faith and other ageless concerns.

Guirgis’ approach to dialogue is to mix up the ancient with the new, bringing F-bombs and references to Tupac together for a contemporary, and at times humorous, discourse. The best example might be the fun Mi Vida Loca characterization of Saint Monica by Fig Chilcott. Saint Monica is the one who provides the impetus for the proceeding by referencing Jesus’ “as you have done unto the least of these you have done unto me” line with a head-weaving, finger-snapping: “Judas was the leastest creature I had ever seen.”

Though I prefer to champion challenging endeavors rather than poke holes in them, it does need to be said that the play’s inherit setup makes it difficult to take it all in. What we’re given is more than 2 1/2 hours of continuous speeches and arguments on good and evil and differing readings on biblical history—some interesting, some long-winded and confusing.

Given that, I would still recommend you go and gorge on Guirgis’ ideas and unrestrained dialogue. There is also plenty to enjoy in the work of the feverishly committed actors, most notably Chilcott, as well as the focused, bulldog lawyering done by Brault and the graceful and energetic work of Emslie as the suave and smarmy prosecutor.

Whitlock and her creative team also have put together an inventive and complete scene. The lighting and video projections (by Whitlock, Geoff Horn and Melody Taylor) are seamless and moody, Whitlock’s own sound work—both with the evocative soundtrack and ominous sound effects—is pitch perfect, and best of all, the scenic design by Taylor is stunning, especially the main stage’s floor-to-ceiling back curtain of wooden crosses wrapped in barbed wire in alternating inverted/right-side-up rows.

Judas Iscariot might be a bumpy ride, but at least the theatre department has provided Chico with something exciting and new to take for a spin … for four nights only.