Presented by Next Stage Theatre Company
Tuesday 21st - Saturday 25th January 2025, 7:30pm
Matinee Saturday 25th January 2025, 2:00pm
Next Stage’s acclaimed 2012 production of Jez Butterworth’s award-winning smash hit is back at The Mission Theatre for the venue’s 20th Birthday week.
It’s St George’s Day, the morning of the local county fair; Johnny “Rooster” Byron, local waster and modern-day Pied Piper, is a wanted man embattled in the Wessex woodland. Facing eviction from his dilapidated mobile home, plying his friends with drink and drugs, ducking and weaving to avoid outraged neighbours, Rooster has little time to enjoy the annual pageant.
Jez Butterworth’s comic, contemporary vision of life in “England’s green and pleasant land” is compelling theatre. Jerusalem gives voice to the dispossessed and the disaffected in the person of Rooster Byron - a shockingly familiar, modern-day Everyman, played in this production by highly-acclaimed actor Richard Chivers.
When Next Stage last produced Jerusalem the critics said:
“Don't miss this – even if you do have to queue all night for a ticket”
Bath Chronicle
“A startling coup ...highly recommended” - International Press
“Superb! Visceral and poetic, lusty and bucolic… the set couldn’t be more lifelike and immersive.” - Venue
WARNING: this play can shock. It contains strong language and adult themes
Review by Rebecca Beard
Watching this play, often described as one of the most important plays of the twenty-first century, is like having the rug pulled from under you. It constantly subverts our expectations of the characters and the story. No-one comes out of it well. The earthy dialogue spares nobody's blushes and the pithy depictions of the rural poor and dispossessed may come as a surprise to some who still think this is confined to inner-city life. I've lived and worked in villages in rural Somerset and can confirm that Dawns, Daveys and Wesleys abound.
The character of Johnny ‘Rooster’ Byron starts as the Everyman; cocking a snook at petty authoritarianism and championing personal freedom. The English love an underdog and Rooster fits the bill perfectly. We admire his defiant stance, but we also know that this is in the confines of the play and we would feel very different if we lived in the new estate. Gradually he shows us his true colours as the action progresses.
The charismatic, delusional, story-telling Pied Piper has no friends, merely a rag-bag collection of motley hangers-on, each as selfish and messed-up as him. Misery loves company and this sorry band of misfit addicts that grub around at the bottom of the societal heap were perfectly portrayed, their carpe diem existence masking a deep despair of nihilism. We see Tania Lyons's Dawn, who escaped (although is reluctantly drawn back in), Bryan Mulry's Davey, who is destined to remain in Flintock forever, and Jonathan Taft's Lee who plans to escape, although I fear he never will. Dave Dunn's poignant Professor made me chuckle, as did Brian Hudd's Wesley. Credit must go to Sam Fynn's Ginger who handled his character deftly, the butt of jokes, the best mate that isn't, the fair-weather friend. They are all stuck in a groove, in a prison of their own making, paying fealty to The Lord Of Misrule, himself.
Sharp pithy dialogue and well-observed speech was delivered expertly as they wove the humour and pathos within the scenes. Ann Ellison's intricate direction made the group scenes compelling as each character reacted appropriately, both individually and as a group. The general hilarity and snorts of laughter soon gave way to the miserable, the shocking and the downright unpleasant. I began laughing with them, then at them, then pitying and even loathing them. I loved all the characterisation and it was clear that a great deal of work had gone into establishing backstories and motivation. This play makes demands especially on the younger cast members and praise must go to Spike Finn's Marky and Dilys Hughes's Phaedra, who both held their own in a more experienced adult cast. Sophia Punt and Miranda Webb as Pea and Tanya gave excellent performances as the feral rats, with Dawn providing the foil of the rat that deserted the sinking ship, but cannot quite sever ties. Andrew Ellison as Troy was chilling as a man motivated not by concern for the safety of a vulnerable girl, but as a brute using this as an excuse for some "justified" violence.
Richard Chivers as Johnny ‘Rooster’ Byron must take the lion's share of acclaim. He took us through a roller-coaster of emotional highs and lows and I particularly enjoyed his early morning routine including the making and consuming of a breakfast not for the faint-hearted. He looked and acted the part throughout (no mean feat) and he held the group attention when story-telling as well as how he depicted the bubble of his bravado being burst. At the end he evokes a mythical past, part desperation to survive, part arrogance to take his place in mythology, and it was sublime.
Ambiguous and messy, jam packed with humanity, Jerusalem is undoubtedly a great piece of theatre. It handles important themes without being preachy and pulls no punches; this production more than does it justice. Miss it at your peril. While I'm here, I urge you to donate to the fundraiser to maintain and repair The Mission Theatre and help to keep this inspirational group going to put on more great productions like this one.
Rehearsal Photos by Ann Ellison
Press Night Photos by Gail Foster
