“The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” is lean, complex and gritty

LOS ANGELES - July 6, 2013 - PRLog -- In this witty and biting contemplation on the meaning of forgiveness by playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis (The Motherf***er with the Hat), the Bible's most notorious traitor is tried in a present-day urban courtroom. Scathingly provocative with edgy, streetwise dialogue, colorful characters and courtroom shenanigans of the highest order, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot is a searing look at history’s most infamous double-cross. Set in an area of downtown Purgatory where “it don't smell good,” Judas is tried by a Civil War deserter, and those called to the stand include Mother Teresa, Freud, a host of saints and sinners and the Prince of Darkness himself. As the trial goes on, we are forced to re-examine old truths and consider what it means to forgive.

In an interview, playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis explained that he has been incubating doubts about the nature of God's will ever since, as an eight-year-old in a Catholic school, he first learned of Judas' condemnation. “It threw me a big jolt,” he said. “I was little but I remember thinking, well, if I can forgive someone, why can't God, who was supposed to be all loving. That was the beginning of the end of my Christian experience.”

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot opens on July 19 and continues through August 24, with performances on Fridays and Saturdays @ 8 pm. Tickets are $30; students and seniors get in for $20. The Hudson Mainstage is located at 6539 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90038. For information and to purchase tickets, call (323) 960-7738.