The Last Days of Judas Iscariot

Play

Writers: Stephen Adly Guirgis

Overview

Show Information

Category
Play
Number of Acts
2
First Produced
2005
Genres
Comedy, Dark Comedy
Settings
Contemporary, Unit/Single Set
Time & Place
a courtroom of hope located in downtown purgatory, unspecified present
Cast Size
large
Orchestra Size
None
Ideal for
professional theatre, regional theatre, college / university theatre, ensemble cast
Casting Notes
Mostly male cast
Includes adult, mature adult, elderly, child, early teen characters

Synopsis

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot is a hilarious, poignant, thought-provoking work by Pulitzer-prize winning playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis. Boasting a large, zany cast of characters, the play asks one of the most plaguing questions in the Christian ideology: What happened to Judas Iscariot? The facts (we think!) we know are these: Judas was the disciple of Jesus who betrayed his friend and teacher to the authorities. He is seen as the man responsible for Jesus’s death; afterwards, Judas fell into despair and hung himself from an olive tree; since then, he has been suffering for his deeds deep in Hell, and will continue to do so for all eternity. Is that really fair? Was Judas the duplicitous master of his own fate, a much-suffering pawn used for Jesus’s ends, or just a man who made a mistake? Set in a courtroom in Purgatory, The Last Days puts Judas’ case to a hilarious, riotous, piercing trial, the results of which are sure to make the inhabitants of Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory — and the audience — reconsider what each thought they knew about forgiveness, faith, and the human inside one of the history’s most infamous figures.

Lead Characters


The Last Days of Judas Iscariot guide sections