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Henry Hitchings's rating
, Jerusalem gives up an amoral hero
By
Henry Hitchings
16 Jul 2009
The word Jerusalem is a peculiarly evocative one for the English. It calls to mind not so much the capital of Israel or the spiritual centre of Judaism as the hymn which has become a surrogate national anthem — a touchstone for rugby fans, Promenaders and the WI.
In Jez Butterworth’s energetic new play William Blake’s vision of “England’s green and pleasant land” is transmuted into a fiesta of bucolic misrule. Set in a wood in an obscure part of Wiltshire on St George’s Day, Jerusalem is a paean to anarchic self-expression. It proudly repudiates the sterility of a world governed by Asbos, health and safety regulations and the micromanagement of pleasure.
The central figure, Johnny Byron, is a former daredevil biker who has become a sort of 21st-century Pied Piper, followed by teenagers and dropouts. Defiantly anti-authoritarian, he’s a mix of feral nuisance and latterday English martyr, barred from every local pub and shacked up with his memories and neuroses. The police are threatening to bulldoze his mobile home, and most of the local community want him gone.
Like the poet whose name he shares, Johnny Byron is mad, bad and dangerous to know. His is a world in which spliffs are “lush”, Class A drugs get raked into lines with a Trivial Pursuit card, and it’s plausible that someone would pee in an accordion.
Yet amid the narcotic carnage he also proves a curiously heroic figure, majestic despite his many flaws. In the hands of Mark Rylance he is an amoral aphorist, hedonistic sloth, piratical humorist and enthusiastic baiter of the “sausage-fingered constabulary”. He may be grubby and dishevelled, but intermittently he is Napoleonic.
Rylance has first-rate support. Mackenzie Crook excels as Johnny Byron’s almost wifely sidekick Ginger, and Tom Brooke as a young man whose faraway stare betrays a life given over to late nights and contraband substances.
Director Ian Rickson has skilfully marshalled the play’s chaos; the production feels careful even in its occasional flights of carelessness. The set, by Ultz, is wonderfully detailed and atmospheric. Tall trees preside over a raunchily primitive chaos, intelligently lit by Mimi Jordan Sherin.
There are evident weaknesses in Butterworth’s text. After an explosive beginning the action meanders, especially in the second of the three acts. The story is thin. It’s also too long.
Yet it hardly seems to matter. Besides moments of gut-busting humour, the play is lit up by a profane intelligence that zeroes in on the pedantry of the nanny state.
And, in Johnny Byron, Butterworth has created a thrilling role. Rylance’s is an astonishing performance, which confirms that he is one of our finest stage actors.
Until 15 August. Information 020 7565 5000.
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Reader views (5)
It seems odd to me that Johnny Byron has not yet been compared to the Old Gods. He demands nothing financial in return for his services (preferring songs and dances in recompence RATHER THAN CASH) , he rejects those that are older than 'teenage' (SEE HOW HE DOES NOT INVITE GINGER TO A PARTY INVOLVING YOUNG PEOPLE), he invokes spirits of the old world in order to make his points (see "look me in the eye" moments (AND THE DRUM-BEATING, REFERENCES TO LEY-LINES, AND APPEALS TO THE OLD GODS) - he is described as having black eyes else... maybe a flash of green made the doubters change their minds?) and yet. And yet - the state takes and claims to give, an old way of life die through the complicity of the 'new estate'. A morris dancer arrives and says he feels like a 'fraud'. I could go on... simply bear in mind, when watching 'Jerusalem', that one may rather be confronting the last gasp of an old (pan, puck, the green man etc.) god than a simple construction based in perceived personality and simple, though wasted, country experience.
- Dan Risch, Winslow, Bucks, 17/04/2010 02:20
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I got to see this show at the Apollo Theatre last week and was blown away! A very funny play that is well worth the price of a ticket. Mark Rylance was fantastic - certainly very different to roles I've seem him play before! Do not miss this - I think it's on for another few weeks at the Apollo
- Graham Mackenzie, Glasgow, UK, 16/03/2010 18:13
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Indeed,the performances are excellent.All of them.Indeed the play is funny,it provokes lots of laughter.One possible problem with wider audiences will be the language and the thematic: One has to be born in England to appreciate the jokes and one has to follow todays popular television szene to get the point.Another related problem is the message that this is modern England and that are its representative characters: Are only the anarchists the ones to question and to oppose to administration issues? Are they heroes for that reason alone?
- Katherina Ertsou, London UK, 12/02/2010 16:36
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At last a play to challenge the diktats of the Health & Safety brigade! Rooster - the Jimmy Porter of the age - speaks for for the millions who are sick and tired of being told how to live their lives. If it's not H&S, it's recycling or being told what to eat and what not to eat (the items vary depending on the weekly supermarket sales figures). A play as well-written and powerful as this can change attitudes - look at the success of the 1960's 'kitchen-sink' dramas. Before it was society that was behind the times but now it's the authorities intent on regulating behaviour and trading on people's fear as the means to control every aspect of people's lives. Mark Rylance is stunning as Rooster and this play will make a big splash in the West End and, definitely, New York. Also, a beautiful production that returns the world to a kinder, more liberal age when one could have a birthday party without the snoops invading the barbeque.
- Dj, London, 12/02/2010 15:36
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The Royal Court's Jerusalem is a terrific achievement. Hopefully
this fresh new play by Jez Butterworth marks the end of left-wing domination of theatre in recent years with its narrow focus on ideological and feminist issues.
Mark Rylance's shamelessly theatrical performance as Johnny
Byron is a joy to watch. The play is multilayered, and defies
definition by political categories - ( the control-freaks on the left won't like this .. . and will give Butterworth a lot of flak .. .
But, you can't keep a good production and a good script down
- its sheer entertainment value will ensure its popularity. )Ostensibly a satire on Middle England, the play has various allegorical strands . . . Johnny Byron could be Falstaff, Lord
Byron, Jesus, Robin Hood, Schererzade,Grendel, depending on your point of view. Jez Butterworth has created a wonderfully
complex character. What's more, the emphasis is on the text,
and the recent obsession with `physical theatre` is shelved in favour of verbal pyrotechnics. . . . . With its 3 hour length
Jerusalem is powerful, truthful, exhilerating theatre and if you
can get a ticket, I urge you not to miss out on the theatrical experience of the year.
- John Cooper, London UK, 12/02/2010 15:36
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