Jerusalem is a critically acclaimed play by Jez Butterworth, frequently hailed as the most important new play of the 21st century and a seminal classic in the making. Of particular note is the almost universally lauded performance of longtime leading man Mark Rylance , whose profile soared on the strength of his turn as Johnny "Rooster" Byron some critics went so far as to compare him to Laurence Olivier. Johnny Byron, an eccentric ex-daredevil turned hard-drinking, trailer-dwelling hermit, lives in the midst of an idyllic pastoral forest on the outskirts of his small town.
He attracts a royal court of misfits and outsiders, including some local teenagers whom he supplies drugs and alcohol. At stake is more than just Johnny's wayward lifestyle; developers have an eye on turning his plot of forest into suburban sprawl, as they have most of the surrounding region.
On St. George's Day, Johnny makes his last stand, and he and his followers have the chance to learn what they and each other are really made of. For part of the production left the Apollo to play on Broadway with most of the original cast.
In early a new production opened in San Francisco, the first and so far only wholly American production and the first without Butterworth or Rylance on hand. This show contains examples of the following:. Alcohol-Induced Idiocy : Johnny, in a drunken mania, destroys his television, then doesn't remember doing it the next day. Even when shown a video of himself clearing doing the deed he declares the incident, "A complete fucking mystery. Anti-Hero : Johnny is very much an anti-hero in the classical sense: Someone who lacks most openly heroic traits but who is our surprisingly sympathetic protagonist anyway.
Arbitrary Skepticism : Ginger is sometimes eager to accept Johnny's stories at face value but keen to poke holes in them other times. He forgot. It would have been awkward anyway. Matter of fact, it still is. The BBC : The gang debate whether or not the BBC still has the journalistic wherewithal to report on the appearance of a foot giant in the English countryside.
