jesus hopped the a train lucius monologue

. Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter: Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train reveals a young playwright's awkwardness with its overwritten passages and reliance on expository monologues.But it also displays . That is exactly where Mr. Guirgis, who won a 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Between Riverside and Crazy, wants us: in a confused crouch that renders us vulnerable to deeper questioning. Gender: Male. Kim's described affect on Joey, the friend Angel fought so hard to free from a cultish existence built by a false prophet. A long traverse stage, no more than two There in the next cage is Lucius Jenkins, a serial murderer and self-described paranoid schizophrenic trying to avoid extradition to Florida and probable execution there. Jesus Hopped the A Train tells the story of several inmates of Rikers Prison who are awaiting charges for murder. Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train. Please prepare one of the sides available at https://actors-express.com/get-involved/ . The production received considerable acclaim from critics such as Ben Brantley of the New York Times and Michael Feingold of The Village Voice. The production team includes Ashley Sweet (stage management), David Sepulveda (set design), Jamie Burnett (lightening design), Tommy Rosati (sound design), Carol Koumbaros (costume design), Emiley Charley (ASM/Propmaster). (Scott Dray). On his first night at Rikers Island, a terrified inmate named Angel Cruz tries to reconstruct the Lords Prayer from his broken memories. Opened Oct. 23, 2017. It allows Lucius evangelism to soar But Lucius feels like a culmination of that journey, taking the charisma of his Martin Luther King, Jr. (in The Mountaintop), the passion of Kenyatta Shakur (in Sunset Baby), the world-weariness of Lincoln (in Topdog/Underdog) and, along with a streak of psychosis, funneling it into a wholly new and wholly lived-in performance. Isaac. In one particularly impressive monologue, Adjepong's Lucius exercises whilst addressing his religious beliefs; the actor's energy doesn't falter once as he performs . Directed by Kevin Mack. Not Exactly Billington: writing about theatre since 2012. friend. Part Size . Story. At the opening of the play, he is in his second night of incarceration, awaiting trial for shooting the leader of that cult in the "ass." He is on his knees, alone and terrified, trying to say a prayer he no . Rabbit Hole. New York, NY, Ages 12-17: Camp Broadway Ensemble @ Carnegie Hall or convincing themselves. Sign up today to unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. June 22, 2022; a la carte wedding flowers chicago; used oven pride without gloves; jesus hopped the a train lucius monologue Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train plays through October 8, 2017, at 1st Stage - 1524 Spring Hill Road, in Tysons, VA. For tickets, call the box office at (703) 854-1856, or purchase them online. Start your review of Jesus Hopped the A Train. Angel holds out that he was justified and his lawyer's sure that a hearts-and-minds appeal will get him off at trial. Inside Rikers Island, a terrified Angel is befriended by a charismatic serial killer named Lucius Jenkins. But in the next cell to Angel is an articulate serial killer called Lucius who has found God and who tries . One has been serving his sentence for years, but his discovery of God helps him find joy in his days. 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. Lucius has done terrible things but now he has found God. Soulpepper Theatre presents Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train, a graphic and distressing story of two prison inmates serving time for murder. Good cop is D'Amico (a warm and sturdy Robert Heinly), who exemplifies kind-hearted compassion. Describe the Night. Guirgis explores crime, punishment, responsibility, redemption, religion, faith, skepticism, God and whether justice is possible in this flawed world. Qty: Full Length, Drama 4 men, 1 woman Total Cast: 5, Flexible Set ISBN-13: 978--8222-1799-2. Stuart. Its a complex and feral feat of acting, one that would feel at home at Long Wharf or Yale Rep or even at one of the best New York theaters. Sure, it tells a story of addiction and cyclical abuse a narrative we've grown to expect about those who go behind bars. Although some of its pungent dialogue verges on debate and a few monologues seem too on the nose, Stephen Adly Guirgis off-Broadway drama ultimately transcends ideology to offer a poignant portrait of human fallibility and good intentions gone astray. 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 performance by Williams was understated but effective and led to one of the most compelling scenes, where D'Amico is describing Lucius' execution. 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. . His play Between Riverside and Crazy won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. You might even think that those first two scenes play just a little too broadly. 4. It opened on the Pershing Square Signature Center's Irene Diamond Stage on October 23, 2017, and ran until November 26th, 2017. Pulitzer Prize-winner Stephen Adly Guirgis darkly comic meditation on redemption and faith, Angel Cruz is a 30-year-old bicycle messenger awaiting trial for the death of the leader of a religious cult. . Elysium Theatre deserve much credit for bringing Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train to Manchester for the first time. Yet, by the end of the play, the opening scenes dark hilarity appears more to have been a groping first effort toward a sincere rediscovery of faith perhaps Guirgis deepest theme. One of the most striking things about Soulpepper's Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train is how multi-dimensional its main characters are. Late in Jesus Hopped the "A" Train, . Review | Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train | Young Vic | 5 Stars | Kate Hewitt's production of Stephen Adly Guirgis' 'Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train' is bold and. Lucius Jenkins - (40's/50's/Black) He is a charismatic, confident convicted serial killer but he has . cages, the action and performances here although the characters are still [2][3] The play was directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman. Lucius is a "celebrity" prisoner, an old-hat at the prison. Then one day they get talking. . Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train does not offer a clear verdict, even while it implicitly criticises the judicial and penal systems of America. . 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. But Nieves' resonant performance negotiates the line between adolescence and adulthood, faith and nihilism and other boundaries that cage in Angel's soul as surely as the Rikers walls encase his body. Sign up today to unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. If you dont have access to a reader, please present a monologue in the style of the show. The other actors do fine with their characters, who are written to mostly speak through direct-address. Jesus Hopped the "a " Train( main work) . LINK: His replacement, Valdez (Ricardo Chavira), is not likely to show anyone a kindness. Another effect may be an accident of timing, but todays viewers may connect most to Guirgis 2000 play when one prisoner says: Were in lockdown no contact whatsoever.. What does it mean? 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. 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. Valdez (Christian M. Castro), the quick-with-the-club guard, has no use for Lucius' proclamations of faith. But in a series of monologues that pull further back from the action, Hanrahans reflections on the case, and on her own investment in it, dissipate the tension. Jesus Hopped the A Train. who are written to mostly speak through direct-address. Lucius Jenkins, a monologue from Jesus Hopped the A-Train by Stephen Adly Gurgius. It seems simple on the surface, but between these two strong actors, Guirgis stellar script and Dexter J. Singletons finely-tuned direction, it makes for electric theater. The first, Charlie D'Amico (Erick Betancourt), is soon fired for doing a variety of favors for Lucius. 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 lot of what we hear from the lawyer is in the form of direct . Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train is at the Young Vic until . He's being held there because, as he tells us, he "shot a man in the ass" earlier that week. . How If you would like to give a public performance of this monologue, please obtain authorization from the appropriate licensor. Research Playwrights, Librettists, Composers and Lyricists. "fire-breathing[a] probing, intense portrait of . When the cult leader dies during surgery, Angel suddenly finds himself facing murder charges. Reviews for Jesus Hopped the . Even if Guirgis' play doesn't always add up, the individual pieces are highly watchable. it in the round allows the guard Valdez (a smug and pitiable character played very Lucius Jenkins is on appeal, trying to avoid the death penalty for the murder of eight people. by Stephen Adly Guirgis. Lucius; CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College THE 100. the shock of the charismatic Lucius' descriptions of his own murders, and finally, the 'A' train itself. Still, they're full of rhetorical fireworks. In the Signature Theater revival of Stephen Adly Guirgis' "Jesus Hopped the A Train . What is clear is that the justice system leaves even the people on the other side of the cage scarred. Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train is a play written by Stephen Adly Guirgis . . T.Schreiber. . Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train reveals a young playwright's awkwardness with its overwritten passages and reliance on expository monologues. Angel Cruz. Productions But when the Reverend dies in hospital, Angel lands in solitary confinement next to Lucius, a card-carrying Christian serial-killer. 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. . 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 . the shock of the charismatic Lucius' descriptions of his own murders, and finally, the 'A' train itself. . White, polished and put-together, Mary Jane dug herself out of a childhood filled with violence and poverty while Lucius succumbed to mental illness and hard drugs. Our Father, who art in heaven, he stammers, Harold be thy name.. Aint no disease a addiction for me, its free will.. Long story, which Guirgis tells well, but a bullet aimed at the cult leaders butt ricochets to later put Angels liberty at risk and puts him in the cell next to Lucius. Set in Rikers Island, the notorious New York City jail, Guirgis' play traces the parallel fates of two inmates Lucius (D'Wayne Taylor), a serial killer known as "the Black Plague," and Angel (Johnathan Nieves), a young Puerto Rican. . Playing Lucius Jenkins, a fellow inmate convicted of murdering eight people, Riggins delivers the kind of . Angel Cruz is a 30-year-old bicycle messenger awaiting trial for the death of the leader of a religious cult. We are committed to principles of ethical and diverse representation in our casting. Stephen Adly Guirgis' critical and hilarious examination o. On his first night at Rikers Island, a terrified inmate named Angel Cruz tries to reconstruct the Lord's Prayer from his broken memories. Stephen Adly Guirgis' Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train is an explosive, verbose play set in the maximum security wing of the infamous Rikers' Island prison in New York. The opening monologue, in which Angel struggles to say the Lords Prayer but repeatedly mangles it, is so packed with frustrated profanities that it evokes David Mamets extremes. 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. Sure, it tells a story of addiction and cyclical abuse a narrative we've grown to expect about those who go behind bars. Making moments memorable are flashbacks some characters share. Lucius, despite Taylor's fearsome performance, remains a bit of a conundrum, as captured in a beguiling late-in-the-play monologue from D'Amico (Zach Bloomfield), a guard who loses his job for . 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. Still, they're full of rhetorical fireworks. does the system treat people the same when the circumstances are so different? House of Actors is proud to present "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train". Apply for Rights. New York, NY, Accessibility Statement Terms Privacy |StageAgent 2020. Inside Rikers Island, a terrified Angel is befriended by a charismatic serial . The character, usually played by a white or Latino actor, is now African-American and has similar features shaved head, facial hair, even the booming voice to the convict hes guarding. Two contrasting prison guards, although convincingly portrayed by Quinn M. Johnson Charlie DAmico (good-guy, likable Charlie DAmico) and Justin Picado (strict, cruel Valdez), remain schematic. New York, NY, Linda Ray . Add into this world Lucius Jenkins, an incarcerated serial killer with a messianic personality, and two prison guards, Valdez and D'Amico, who have radically different ways of enforcing and breaking the laws of which they are functionaries, and JESUS HOPPED THE 'A' TRAIN unfolds as both riotously funny, and as a searingly dramatic rumination . Earley Dean capably conveys the redemptive Christian spirituality, manic energy and residue of mental problems of Lucius Jenkins, a serial killer on Death Row trying to make a positive impact before hes gone.