Jerusalem
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Cititour.com Review
With an explosive performance from Mark Rylance, direct from the Royal Court Theatre in London, "Jerusalem" erupts on the Music Box stage with the tenacity of a hungry wolf. Jez Butterworth’s tale of an outcast drug-dealing cult-like commander of a group of disaffected teenagers, and sad-sack pals, treads the waters of dark humor, violence, despair and mysticism with detonators hidden at every step. The play is like a train wreck that you just can’t bring yourself to turn away from. And yet, it’s so very English in tone and substance that much of what’s on stage seemed mired in culture shock.
Although all of these performers (the majority of whom were in the original English cast) are terrific, the centerpiece here is Rylance, as Johnny “Rooster” Byron, a onetime Evel Knievel-like daredevil who now hides out in the woods in his trailer dispensing cocaine and throwing wild drunken all-night parties surrounded by grungy teens. The locals are evicting him, due to the expansion of a nearby housing development, and Byron is refusing to go gently into that good night.
While Rylance has twice found great critical acclaim on Broadway, first in the comic turn in "Boeing-Boeing," and just this past fall as the outrageous playwright in "La Bête," this time around his characterization so seamlessly marries a physicalization of the role, with Byron’s inner and outward drama, that it’s not hard to believe he may have other-worldly powers. At the top of the show Rylance does a handstand into a steel tub of water and limps across the stage throughout the show while barking his raspy flights of fancy. It’s nothing short of a tour-de-force. Everything else pales in comparison.
"Jerusalem" is a three-hour odyssey with topical references sprinkled about from Elton John to Beyoncé. Director Ian Rickson is a genius at keeping his sixteen-member cast all aimed in the same destination. Just where playwright Jez Butterworth wants to take his audience, beyond blowing their minds, is not as clear.
By Lesley Alexander
Visit the Site
http://jerusalembroadway.com
Cast
Mark Rylance, Mackenzie Crook, John Gallagher Jr., Max Baker, Geraldine Hughes, Molly Ranson, Alan David, Aimeé-Ffion Edwards, Danny Kirrane, Charlotte Mills, Sarah Moyle, Harvey Robinson, Barry Sloane, Aiden Eyrick, Mark Page
Open/Close Dates
Opening 4/2/2011
Closing 8/21/2011
Box Office
212-239-6200
Theatre Info
Music Box Theatre
239 West 45th Street
New York, NY 10036
Map
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