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The Last Days of Judas Iscariot: A Play [Paperback]

Stephen Adly Guirgis
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

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Book Description

December 27, 2005
From one of our most admired playwrights, “an ambitious, complicated and often laugh-out-loud religious debate” (Toby Zinman, The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Set in a time-bending, seriocomically imagined world between Heaven and Hell, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot is a philosophical meditation on the conflict between divine mercy and human free will that takes a close look at the eternal damnation of the Bible’s most notorious sinner. This latest work from the author of Our Lady of 121st Street “shares many of the traits that have made Mr. Guirgis a playwright to reckon with in recent years: a fierce and questing mind that refuses to settle for glib answers, a gift for identifying with life’s losers and an unforced eloquence that finds the poetry in lowdown street talk. [Guirgis brings to the play] a stirring sense of Christian existential pain, which wonders at the paradoxes of faith” (Ben Brantley, The New York Times).

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The Last Days of Judas Iscariot: A Play + A Jesuit Off-Broadway: Behind the Scenes with Faith, Doubt, Forgiveness, and More
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“A real jaw-dropper. [Guirgis’s] imagination is dazzling and his command of language downright thrilling.” —Marilyn Stasio, Variety

“Guirgis may be the most extravagantly talented . . . playwright in America . . . To put it clinically, he is a master of American urban vernacular; to put it as one of his characters might put it, the s—— is real.” —Jeremy McCarter, The New York Sun

About the Author

Stephen Adly Guirgis's previous plays--Our Lady of 121st Street, Jesus Hopped the A Train, and In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings--were published by Faber in an omnibus edition in 2003. He lives in New York City.


Product Details

  • Paperback: 128 pages
  • Publisher: Faber & Faber; 1st edition (December 27, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0571211011
  • ISBN-13: 978-0571211012
  • Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 0.4 x 8.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #277,455 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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Customer Reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
(11)
4.5 out of 5 stars
If you have ever read a play by Stephen Adly Guirgis, you know he's a great writer, in his own right. Rodrick Randall  |  6 reviewers made a similar statement
I saw a production of this play and then read the book. Louis Smith  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The best thing I have read in a long while September 28, 2006
Format:Paperback
I enjoyed this play so much. It wasn't that I could not put it down- instead I wanted it to last- I would read a scene and force myself to put it down so it would be waiting for me the next day. The way he makes his characters come to life is brilliant. As you read it you can hear the voice of each person. Mr. Guirgis causes you to think about how things are perceived differently by different people, and we ourselves are sometimes our own worse critic...I loved how when I was reading the scene with Satan- at one point I literally felt nauseous- I did not love feeling nauseous- but then I realized- this is Satan- it should make you sick. And the stunning monolgue given by Jesus near the end is so beautiful and heart wrenching and says, "This is who I am- who I am meant to be-and many of you who think you know me- need to think again about who I am and what I came here for." It sums up the teaching of Jesus using his greatest lesson- to love others- especially those whom you really really really don't want anything to do with. And it's the lesson that most of us forget so easily- and yet its the most important one. And the final monologue by Butch Honeywell-well--you just have to read that one yourself...What a great play...Thanks Mr. Guirgis.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Stephen Adly Guirgis is a playwright that as a young person living in an urban city you feel you could chill with. He's also a playwright that if you're an affluent privileged person you'd still love to meet...why? The guy makes you think.

In The Last Days of Judas Iscariot we are met with a cast of characters that are so famous and infamous that we can't help but get excited to see what's next. Where else can you see Mother Teresa and Satan take the stand on the same day in a trial set in purgatory. Comic and thought provoking at the same time.

The play focuses on what led to the downfall of Judas Iscariot, the notorious disciple. Was it really his fault? Did Jesus want him to do it? Did he still love him after the fact? This play is not an attack on christianity. If anything it is a play that spotlights spirituality and the importance of faith, whatever that may mean for the individual.

The writing is very accessible with dialogue you would hear on a modern day street corner to more refined monologue moments. If anything, this play will make you think about right and wrong and how what we opine is relative, especially if we weren't there and didn't "walk a mile" in their shoes thing.

Get this and get the Guirgis trilogy. If you're a young actor who can't find a monologue that "speaks to you" check out Guirgis's work. You'll be hard pressed not to have at least one "wow" or "that's tight" moments after reading.

Enjoy.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Quality Play To Read June 30, 2006
Format:Paperback
If you have ever read a play by Stephen Adly Guirgis, you know he's a great writer, in his own right. "The Last day of Judas Iscariot", in my opinion, is a very well written play with a variety of differents characters that bring a certain savvy to the play. I enjoy read plays show character interaction with a purpose either subtly or obviously and I think "relationships" and character interaction work effectively. Now if one reads this thinking they're about to read some kind of biography of Judas Iscariot from the bible, then they are about as backwards as someone watching the musical "Jesus Christ: Superstar" for spiritual growth. The play presents different ideas, not necessarily about religon, but about ethics, morality and seems to show characters in a three dimensional matter. I strongly recommend that most every one should read this play, especially if one is a student of the arts. If you are open-minded and like good plays, then read this play! I'm a christian and I still think it is a good play! I also recommend that if you like this play by Guirgis then you will certainly love his play called "Our Lady Of 121st." You can't go wrong with either of these play.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely
A play with a rough exterior, but on the inside of Mr. Guirgis's play is an amazingly sweet message of love and forgiveness.
Published 2 months ago by RealboyLanny
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read/see!!!
I saw a production of this play and then read the book. Both mediums (stage and literature) work well at giving an impactful, novel and profound perspective to philosophy, religion... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Louis Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Thought Provoking, Yet Entertaining
I've seen this play staged by a few different universities and companies and it has become one of my favorites if not my favorite play of all time. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Man of Gray
5.0 out of 5 stars "...the Americanization of the afterlife..."
I took the title of the review from the opening scene of the play. I first saw Stephen Adly Guirgis's play at Rutgers in the spring of 2011. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Frank L. Greenagel Jr.
4.0 out of 5 stars The Last Days of Judas Iscariot
This was an engaging and satisfying look at an old story from a very new angle -- viewing what is traditionally presented as a black and white story of betrayal and greed as an... Read more
Published on December 15, 2010 by JS
5.0 out of 5 stars Instant Classic
Downtown LA Premiere [...].

Over 2,000 years ago, in the land of Judea, the apostle Judas Iscariot committed the greatest act of betrayal the world has ever known. Read more
Published on October 7, 2010 by Jeremy J. Aluma
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't be a holy roller - appreciate a good message.
If you ever get a chance to see this play..be sure to have time to watch it again! One person was a 'church-going' fool and was very upset that this wasn't an accurate historical... Read more
Published on July 28, 2010 by Clayton Giovanni M.
1.0 out of 5 stars Wouldn't buy it again
This was so distasteful to me that I ended up throwing it away.
Published on November 2, 2006 by T. Wold
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