Toronto Review: 'Jesus Hopped the A Train' at Soulpepper Theatre
Joe Szekeres, Chief Toronto Critic
A warning to future audiences who might think because the name Jesus appears in the title that this is a religious play. Far from it and fuhgedaboutit. Stephen Adly Guirgis turns religion, faith and belief upside down in this intriguing production directed with a ferocious, blunt, violent and, at times, explicit foresight by Soulpepper’s Artistic Director, Weyni Mengesha.
In December I had seen another Guriguis production ‘Between Riverside and Crazy’ at Coal Mine Theatre and was captivated how he cuts right through to the very being of the human existence and spills out the true essence of the person, baggage and all. In that production, the character, Walter, says at one point, “I thought I knew him but who really knows anybody?”
Let’s cut right to it. Do we really and truly know anybody?
Guirgis takes this rather dark understanding of human nature and now enters the world of the American penal system in “Jesus Hopped the A Train” where there will always be grey areas of interpretation and understanding of justice and the law. In her Director’s Note, Ms. Mengesha writes how she felt compelled to enter the “pulsing and fast paced world” of the jail setting of New York’s Rikers Island where morality and faith are put to the test by five wonderful performances.
We enter Set Designer Ken MacKenzie’s stark and isolated Rikers Island world of two parallel black barred jail cells with barbed wire at the top and a hallway running between the two. A bench sits in each cell with grey chairs where necessary. Kevin Lamotte’s lighting underscores many moments of pulsating tension and dialogue. John Gzowski’s sound design loudly snatches our attention face forward to see what’s coming next. There is a loudspeaker which hangs stage right on the ceiling that wasn’t used as I thought it would have been. I would have liked to have heard something emanating from it.
An initial look at this ‘A Train’ plot might draw comparisons to television’s long running ‘Law and Order’. There’s more going on here, however, as these characters have been cut open by events regarding how the legal system has permeated their lives. And it’s for the worst.
We are introduced to a young Puerto Rican man Angel Cruz (a feisty and spunky Xavier Lopez) who is on his knees praying to almighty God. Angel has been imprisoned for shooting a cult leader in the ass after Angel’s best friend succumbs to the cult leader’s influence. The cult leader dies during surgery and Angel is now up on murder charges. In the prison cell opposite Angel is serial killer Lucius Jenkins (a charismatic and fiery Daren A. Herbert) who has been imprisoned for at least the death of eight people (that we know of). Lucius has turned a born-again Christian. To add to this mixture is the sadistic and horrible corrections officer Valdez (a smartly delivered ruthless performance by Tony Nappo).
Diana Donnelly is a knockout as a tough as nails, fierce and aggressive lawyer Mary Jane Hanrahan who struggles in her professional relationship with Angel. Ms. Donnelly delivers a couple of monologues in breaking the fourth wall to help advance the plot. There is one moment she delivers information about what happens to Angel as the tears welled in her eyes. I was caught up in this moment and was on every word she said. Powerful stuff. At the top of the show, Gregory Prest is corrections officer D’Amico who treats Lucius with the utmost respect and decency. When D’Amico is let go for reasons which I will not spoil here (suffice it to say those reasons are unfair), we don’t see Mr. Prest for quite awhile. When he does return in Act 2, Mr. Prest, like Ms. Donnelly, sensationally delivers such a heart felt monologue in breaking the fourth wall that there was sheer silence in the house.
This production is top notch all round. ‘Jesus Hopped the A Train’ is one of those texts which demands complete attention and asks of us important questions regarding the legal system, and how a religious faith and belief factor into the lives of the accused and the victims. Yes, a serial killer has murdered at least eight people of which we know and will most assuredly be punished. Yet, the serial killer came from a home where he was raped and sodomized as a child for many years. Will this or can this information even factor into the trial? Have Lucius and Angel used a religious faith simply to medicate themselves to alleviate the pain from the environments in which they found themselves?
Extremely heady questions for an afternoon or evening at the theatre. This is exactly what good theatre must do for all of us. It makes us question, it makes us ponder, it makes us reflect, and it makes us think.
Soulpepper’s ‘Jesus Hopped the A Train’ does just that.
Running time: 2 hours and 20 minutes with one 20-minute interval.
JESUS HOPPED THE A TRAIN
Runs to February 23 at The Young Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto’s Historic Distillery District in the Michael Young Theatre, 50 Tank House Lane. For further information, visit www.soulpepper.ca, www.youncentre.ca or call the Box Office for tickets at (416) 866-8666.
Writer: Stephen Adly Guirgis; Director: Weyni Mengesha; Set Designer: Ken MacKenzie; Costume Designer: Shannon Lea Doyle; Lighting Designer: Kevin Lamotte; Sound Designer: John Gzowski; Fight Director: Simon Fon; Stage Manager and Fight Captain: Ashley Ireland;
Performers; Diana Donnelly, Daren A. Herbert, Xavier Lopez, Tony Nappo, Gregory Prest.
Photo of l-r: Daren A. Hebert, Tony Nappo and Xavier Cruz by Dahlia Katz.
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