Jesus Hopped the A Train. Its the reason I keep coming back to Collective Consciousness. But as Lucius works his sociopathic charm on Angel, he begins to open up little by little. Isaac. church/ cult leader in his water buffalo-sized ass in an attempt to rescue his Search the history of over 797 billion Gender: Male. In 2011, his play The Motherfucker with the Hat was nominated for a handful of Tonys, including Best Play; a few scant weeks after the award . Lucius is awaiting extradition to Florida to take responsibility for the trail of bodies he left behind. Productions But when the Reverend dies in hospital, Angel lands in solitary confinement next to Lucius, a card-carrying Christian serial-killer. father stabbed someone at a dance when she was younger, but, In Rikers, Angel meets Lucius But the audience also hears stories of childhood friendships and complicated . light and freedom. These are the dichotomies that Stephen Adly Guirgis's Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train puts up against each other, whilst exploring the injustices and complexities of the American justice system. Lobby Hero. A lot of what we hear from the lawyer is in the form of direct address, and these monologues lack the poetry (brute or not) of the rest. But it also displays incendiary passion and insight into its troubled characters". Inside Rikers Island, a terrified Angel is befriended by a charismatic serial killer named Lucius Jenkins. . Re-read the monologue. Jesus Hopped the "A" Train by Kerry Reid March 14, 2002 August 19, . More . Are we really laughing with Angel or at him? You might even think that those first two scenes play just a little too broadly. Their scenes together alternate with ones in which Angels lawyer, Mary Jane Hanrahan, must break through his perverse resistance in order to prepare him for court. Signature Theater; 294 seats; $65 top. Angel Cruz - (20s /Latino) A young man Incarcerated at Rikers Island Prison. Not Exactly Billington: writing about theatre since 2012. The two convicts talk about God and redemption, free-will, racism, addiction and the meaning of freedom. Elysium Theatre deserve much credit for bringing Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train to Manchester for the first time. He then mercilessly exploits that vulnerability by adding a contrasting pair of guards to the mix: one, named Charlie, a good-natured patsy; the other, Valdez, a by-the-rules sadist. A monologue from the play Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train by Francesco Di MaioShot and Directed by Hitop Films. Photo: Tristram Kenton. Howard?) amidst the cacophony of his incarcerated neighbors telling him, in no polite terms, to shut up. Angel Cruz, a poor Puerto Rican, isn't sure why he's in jail after shooting Reverend Kim, the born-again Christian who brainwashed his best friend. It explores the space between what can be done and what should be done. . Soulpepper's 'Jesus Hopped the A Train' does just that. Furthermore, staging it in the round allows the guard Valdez (a smug and pitiable character played very well by Joplin Sibtain) to roam all levels of . Collective Consciousness Theatres Jesus Hopped The A Train by Stephen Adly Guirgis runs through November 11 at Erector Square (319 Peck Street, Building 6S) in New Haven, CT. Jesus, directed by Dexter J. Singleton and produced by Jenny Nelson, stars Jhulenty Delossantos (Angel), Rob Giardian (DAmico), Jason Hall (Valdez), Bridget McCarthy (Mary Jane Hanrahan) & Terrence Riggins (Lucius). Angel (John Ortiz) and Lucius (Ron Cephas Jones) are in lock-down, spending all but one hour a day in their cells. Lucius has found God and been born again, and now, Angel's life and the course of his trial will be changed forever. Some auditors urge actors to find classical monologues from writers other than Shakespeare. . JESUS HOPPED THE 'A' TRAIN . An inmate at Rikers (ANGEL) struggles with his new circumstances as he tries to convince his fellow inmate (LUCIUS) to speak to him. And meters wide with a concrete floor, runs from one end of the auditorium to the Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train plays through April 21st at the SF Playhouse, 533 Sutter St, San Francisco. His play Between Riverside and Crazy won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Still . (Arthur Williams III), an older man who shows him kindness and seeks to show him the way to Jesus's love. Robert Heinly (D'Amico) in Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train. The performance by Frankham was another highlight for me; the development of the character though her interactions with Angel and her later monologues was subtle, yet well conveyed. very much confined are fully opened out. Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train begins and ends with the same image: a young prisoner, Angel, on his knees, praying in darkness. But after DAmico is canned for slipping Lucius contraband cookies, hes left without an audience. . Playing the charismatic older convict, Lucius a self-proclaimed child of god who has killed six people Jones is a live coal onstage. New York, NY, Linda Ray Intermission is thrilled to be hosting the inaugural theatre reviews of the Emerging Arts Critics Programme 2019/20 season. [17], Michael Billington of The Guardian, who had given the play three out of five stars in 2002,[18] gave the same rating after a 2019 performance and said that "for all the vividness of the dialogue, the play still strikes me as baffling in its exploration of guilt, faith and redemption." Stuart. Relying heavily on the attorney's direct address monologues, the entire subject seems to be one Guirgis feels the need to include, but never finds a way to integrate. The play is full of monologues that function to articulate each character's values, very much like back in Sophocles' day, and the directors' decision to stage the play in the round magnifies the standing and authority of each such magnificent speech. A sociopathic serial killer awaiting extradition to Florida, Lucius pauses from his workouts only to chain smoke and to "save" Angel. Review: Its Law vs. Order in Jesus Hopped the A Train, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/23/theater/jesus-hopped-the-a-train-review.html, Sean Carvajal, left, and Ricardo Chavira in Jesus Hopped the A Train.. The first, Charlie D'Amico (Erick Betancourt), is soon fired for doing a variety of favors for Lucius. Aint no disease a addiction for me, its free will.. Angel Cruz is a 30-year-old bicycle messenger awaiting trial for the death of the leader of a religious cult. Describe the Night. Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train does not offer a clear verdict, even while it implicitly criticises the judicial and penal systems of America. Billington quipped that Angel's final sacrificial gesture "smacks more of romantic fiction than spiritual redemption [] I enjoyed the production without fully believing in Guirgis's vision of crime and punishment. on the Internet. Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train. Off Broadway Review: 'Jesus Hopped the A Train'. It allows Lucius evangelism to soar Brayden Fagbemis putback rescues No. But in the next cell to Angel is an articulate serial killer called Lucius who has found God and who tries . [1], The play premiered Off-Broadway at the East 13th Street Theatre in a production by LAByrinth Theater Company on November 29, 2000, and ran to December 31, 2000. It opened on the Pershing Square Signature Center's Irene Diamond Stage on October 23, 2017, and ran until November 26th, 2017. Jesus Hopped the A Train is a . Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train is a brilliant, visceral examination of morality and justice, questioning the difference between true faith and self-serving religion. Stephen Adly Guirgis's Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train runs through Dec. 3 on the Irene Diamond Stage at Pershing Square Signature Center (480 W. 42nd St.). This 2000 play, which has had a few productions locally, probably carries extra resonance in a year when criminal justice and questions about mass incarceration have been pushed to the foreground. Valdez (Christian M. Castro), the quick-with-the-club guard, has no use for Lucius' proclamations of faith. Jesus Hopped The A Train . What Does Cameron Call His Style Of Rhythm? Guirgis tosses a lot of moral questions into the mix here, and while he avoids moralizing (as does Anish Jethmalani's crisp and high-octane production), he also doesn't seem to have fully decided whether he's writing a searing portrait of the dehumanization of the correctional system or a theological deconstruction of the rock of faith in a hard place. Intermission is partnering with Soulpepper Theatre Company and theatre critic Robert Cushman to mentor this season's participants. Lucius Jenkins - (40's/50's/Black) He is a charismatic, confident convicted serial killer but he has . . Part investigation of our broken criminal justice system, part examination of the corruptive influence of Judeo-Christian morality, "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train" is a promising When the psychopath is an acute thinker about responsibility and the atheist a tantrum-prone man-child hoping to avoid it, we have trouble deciding how to invest our emotions. It's the reason I keep coming back to Collective Consciousness. Beyond Therapy. The legal procedural in the play Pirie has a resume of fine acting longer than Lucius' rap sheet, and it shows. But they are also particular to our time and place, perhaps even more so now that the United States is the worlds largest jailer than they were in 2000. Inside Rikers Island, a terrified Angel is befriended by a charismatic serial killer named Lucius Jenkins. Dogg as sound designer. Running time: 2 hours and 20 minutes with one 20-minute interval. Angel Cruz and Lucius Jenkins face murder charges. He is a former co-artistic director of Labyrinth Theater Company. The themes are smartly presented and evident without having public defender Mary Jane (Bridget McCarthy) say one mans neurotic is another mans hero, and who, ultimately, can say which ones which with any real certainty at all? The guard Valdez is not given the depth and nuance doled out to the other characters. It's a tight, well-paced and thoughtful staging . 0. 4. We see Angels first night behind bars, trying in vain to remember the Lords Prayer (Our Father, who art in heaven, Howard be thy name. THE HALF-GOD OF RAINFALL at New York Theatre Workshop, THE WALLS HAVE EARS at The Roxy Theatre Group, Gulfshore Playhouse 2023-24 Season at Gulfshore Playhouse, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey 2023 Season at Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, WESTPORT COUNTRY PLAYHOUSE 2023 SEASON at Westport Country Playhouse. Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train revels in these complexities. JESUS HOPPED THE A TRAIN Auditions Actor's Express Theatre Company in Submission 11/23. . Opened Oct. 23, 2017. . We hear a story of how her He brings Lucius Oreo cookies and cigarettes; his wife baked Lucius a shepherd's pie; D'Amico and Lucius share a buddylike badinage. T.Schreiber. We are committed to principles of ethical and diverse representation in our casting. Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train closes October 15, 2017 Details and tickets -[/ezcol_1third] It's startling to watch Luciusa so-called man of Godinfluence Angel in a way akin to Rev. Seeking 2 Actor Team for Spring He's being held there because, as he tells us, he "shot a man in the ass" earlier that week. By Jesse Green. Their monologues are all interesting, at least, but Guirgis was mainly interested in having Angel and Lucius debate. Yet, "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train" may be trickier to perform, with its passions verging on melodrama and its frequent alternating monologues sometimes telling rather than showing. Angel is awaiting trial - his first. When "Jesus Hopped The A Train" begins, you think it's going to be a story about Angel Cruz, a thirty-year-old Latino who winds up in prison after shooting a cult leader in a botched mission to rescue his brainwashed friend. Particularly thought-provoking is a monologue by Matthew Douglas as Charlie, the guard before Valdez who was fired, whose initial amicable relationship with Lucius is clouded by his final visitation. Jesus beautifully toys with that idea, like in Mary Janes monologue about her alcoholic father. Added to the mix are Lucius Jenkins, a serial killer turned born-again Christian, and Valdez, a sadistic corrections officer. Both are in protective custody and must spend their one-hour of outside time locked in individual pens. (Scott Dray). At a glance Short North. Submit at https://actors-express.com/get-involved/ . For one hour each day, both men share adjacent cages on Rikers Island, New York's top security prison. An LA Theater Works production of Stephen Adly Guirgis's play about Angel Cruz, a Puerto Rican who is in jail after a prank turned badly: He shoots Reverend Kim in the, uh, posterior, after Kim, a rich hypocrite preacher, brainwashed his best friend. Im juss a Black Plague! Signature Theater presents a revival of 'Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train,' a 2000 drama by Stephen Adly Guirgis, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 'Between Riverside and Crazy' and 'The Motherf . Early on in the play, Valdez has a monologue-which may appear to be his only redeeming moment in the play. In other scenes, she performs monologues. Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train is a play written by Stephen Adly Guirgis. Lucius to dislike, although this is after weve warmed to him. These near-monologues are often gorgeous, but they can also be weirdly self-negating; in 'A' Train, they don't even always make sense. Theres much about Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train Theatre Review. He is the one who reaches out, shares cigarettes, warns about the Monday soup and recites the names of the books of the Old Testament, backward, while doing deep knee bends and lunges. (played with methodical control by Dervla Kirwan) takes a liking to him and Stephen Adly Guirgis. Nah, people doan wanna hear bout none a that! Valdez - (30s/40s/Ltino) He is the sadistic guard assigned to Lucius at Rikers. Truth versus lies. Lucius. So where is God where is good in the criminal justice system? dialogue, and street-wise sense of authenticity, despite being locked out of Monologues from Plays. by Stephen Adly Guirgis. But after he lands in 24-hour protective custody, one hour of which is spent each day in a cage in the jail yard, he meets his philosophical match. J esus Hopped the 'A' Train occurs almost entirely within the one-hour-per-day periods when two Rikers Island prisonersAngel Cruz (Anthony Lam) and Lucius Jenkins (Bobby Bermea)get to . The play was performed during the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland in August 2001. "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train" arrives at the 13th Street Theater with all the trappings of a grass-roots Off Broadway hit: a dollop of street credibility in the person of its brooding leading man . House of Actors is proud to present "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train". Lucius (Carl Lumbly), an articulate serial killer who has found God, is Angel's next door cellmate.
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