About the Play:

Jerusalem is a full-length drama by Jez Butterworth. A Pied Piper tale for the 21st century, Jerusalem is the story of an eccentric outsider, purveyor of drugs, alcohol, mythic tales and sanctuary to the troubled teens, living in a rusted trailer in the English woods.

Jerusalem is a comic, contemporary vision of life in the woods of southwest England's green and pleasant land. On St George's Day – the annual celebration honouring the dragon slayer and Christian patron saint of England – aging daredevil motorcyclist Johnny 'Rooster' Byron, local hellraiser and modern-day Pied Piper, is a wanted man. The council officials want to serve the maverick local boy an eviction notice, his son wants to be taken to the local country fair, a vengeful stepfather wants to give him a serious kicking, but Johnny has other plans. At his ramshackle trailer kingdom, the magnetic storyteller entertains his motley crew of mates with outlandish tales, unbelievable antics and an ample supply of booze and drugs. Infamous for holding the most riotous parties in the county, Johnny is a hero to many but a villain to others. Pursued by the authorities bent on eradicating him, bulldozing the land, and putting up condos, threatened by the local thug, and reprimanded by his ex, Johnny is not a man to be beaten down. Inciting his own special brew of anarchy, Johnny fights against the hypocrisy of modern suburban life and embodies the spirit of England's legendary giants of myth. A raucous, earthy contemporary classic, Jerusalem paints a rebellious alternative vision of the idyllic English countryside.

Jerusalem premiered in 2009 at the Royal Court Theatre in London, transferred in 2010 to the Apollo Theatre in the West End of London, and won the Evening Standard Best Play Award and the Critics Circle and Whatsonstage.com awards for Best New Play. One of the most lauded plays of the past twenty years, it played on Broadway in 2011 at Music Box Theatre, and has been mounted by regional repertory houses, colleges, and community theatres.

Cast: 5 female, 9 male

What people say:

"An instant modern classic... tender, touching, and blessed with both a ribald humour and a haunting sense of the mystery of things... one of the must-see events." — The Daily Telegraph

"One of the most exciting new plays in ages... a great frame-busting play that thinks big – transcendently big – in ways contemporary drama seldom dares." — The New York Times

"Jez Butterowrth’s gorgeous, expansive new play keeps coming at its audience in unpredictable gusts, rolling from comic to furious, from winsome to bawdy." — The Observer

"Unarguably one of the best dramas of the twenty-first century." — The Guardian

"storming... restores one's faith in the power of theatre." — The Independent

"Show of the year." — Time Out

About the Playwright:

Jez Butterworth is a leading English playwright, screenwriter, and film director whose work is characterized by its distinctive language, dark comedic themes, and lowlife characters. His work has frequently been compared to that of his mentor – playwright Harold Pinter – and to the films of Guy Ritchie. He has won numerous awards for his work, including the E. M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.