Monday marks the official first rehearsal of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. Everyone is getting ready. The director, designers and stage management have already been hard at work. The actors had a chance to read through the script once in the beginning of February and now they prepare to dive in to this demanding and exhilarating play.
I, as well, have already started work and I am also excited to dive in. As dramaturg on this play I have a couple of different responsibilities. I am available to the cast and team to help with any research they need, I will be providing them with a great deal at the start: information on the various characters, origins of quotations, and the like. I am also here to provide the audience with as much information as I can to peak their excitement about the play, to round out the experience of coming to Forum and to keep the story on their mind when they walk out of the theater and return to their homes.
The past few weeks I have been reading up. I have been working my way through the Gospels and everything else as well. I am very used to doing research in the Bible but it’s generally the other half. As a Jew, I am now, more or less, discovering Jesus for the first time. I studied Christianity in college but working on a play feels different. So in blog entries through out the rehearsal process and run of Judas keep your eyes open as I go on this journey. A journey different from Stephen Adly Gurgis as he set out to write this play about the depths of forgiveness and possibilities of redemption. A journey different from the one the cast is going on as they bring new light to familiar characters. A journey different from the one you will experience sitting in the theater.
For me, this is my journey into the other, my journey into having a deeper understanding of theology and faith, and my journey of curiosity and discovery as we bring this play I already love, to our audience.
