Notes From the Cast: Jesse Terrill

We’ve asked the cast members of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot to send us their thoughts on the play, rehearsals, and their own personal connections to the material and their religious histories.
Jesse, who was in Season 2’s The Memorandum, is playing Dr. Sigmund Freud and St. Thomas.

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I was raised as an Atheist, though I consider myself Agnostic. I do not believe in God or in any afterlife, or any real purpose to our humanly existence. I’m lucky to be playing both an intellectualizing atheist (Freud) and a doubter (St. Thomas) in this production as I can bring some of my natural cynicism to the roles. ‘Intelligence and Faith are two different things’ says Freud, and while I shy away from the narcissism of his assessment, I do believe he is right. I’m a practical guy–I consider myself an intellectual, and I absolutely demand proof for everything.

I am very excited to be a part of this production. Religion is an important part of history, and a part of history that I know very little about. I am excited how dialogue and debate is modernized, urbanized, sensationalized…and then thrust into the mouths of very important and controversial characters. Guirgis has assembled a panoply of persons, pious and profane. The subject matter is epic and theatrical, and yet the play takes place in one of the most confined and mundane of domains–the litigation courtroom.

This play has aroused my curiosity. Lately I’ve been finding myself typing in Biblical names and places into Google and skimming through the results. Just who the heck was Caiaphas the Elder? There’s very little that I know about the Bible, and honestly, in order to effectively rationalize my position toward Religion, I have to know what it is I am rationalizing against.

I must admit, the Bible is completely contradictory, sensationalized, ludicrous–but damn if it’s one heck of a read.

I am uncovering fascinating stories, parables and myths. To me, these are human tales–epic soap operas–sparked by deep psychological undercurrents that reveal human fears and desires–the perfect ingredients for great drama!

This play taunts us, provokes us, dazzles us and surprises us. I don’t have to be religious to say that I find this production to be very exciting and very challenging. Guirgus takes the ethereal and makes it something decidedly human. This I can identify with.