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The last time I occupied an uncomfortable seat at the Hudson Theatre's dingy Backstage, it was for Julia Sweeney's atheist epiphany Letting Go of God. Ironic, then, that the same space would be given over to an exercise in Christian apologetics. The difference between the two theatrical efforts, other than religious polarity and separation in years, is that Sweeney's monologue is rooted in personal experience and presented with genuine emotion, humour, and insightful reflection. By contrast, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot by Stephen Adly Guirgis is the very model of artifice, an indulgence of religion's worst instinct to fabricate comforting, self-serving answers in the absence of meaningful evidence and reason. The only suspense is waiting to discover whether Guirgis’s convictions are those of a playwright or a propagandist.

It’s certainly touch and go, and not particularly accessible to people unfamiliar with the Bible. We are presented with the intriguing notion of a courtroom drama in which Judas’s sentence to hell for double-crossing Jesus is appealed, but without a commitment to the taut procedural logic that makes trials so riveting. Though good for the occasional joke, such as the judge balking at a writ from God to move forward with the trial, the play’s limp structure exists only for Guirgis to trot out self-appointed “lawyers” arguing over a parade of witnesses – only to abandon it all in favour of an off-stage verdict and an insufferably cloying, literal deus ex machina. Forget trying to sort out the theology of a human court in purgatory apparently invested with the authority to appeal divine judgment. Even Guirgis dodges the metaphysical implications of his scenario, just as he defuses the criticisms leveled against key witnesses – Pontius Pilate, Caiphas the Elder, Mother Theresa – by allowing them to walk off the stage, dignity and heavenly status intact. Sigmund Freud, however, is not so fortunate. Besides being inexplicably called in as a representative for modern psychiatry, he is reduced to a sputtering fool, first spouting psycho-babble, then becoming undone by revelations of (alleged) cocaine addiction. Never mind the touch and go. An agenda asserts itself, and we discover yet again that theology is only interesting in the absence of definite facts or a refusal to acknowledge reality. When the playwright, a god over his own creation, can introduce any character he pleases, including divine ones, it’s not surprising we witness reasoning by fiction and moralizing by theatrical decrees. For my part, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot made me appreciate the Muslims’ aversion to depictions of their Prophet.

Perhaps we shouldn’t read too much into the fact that of the two “lawyers,” it is the advocate for the kingdom of heaven who is flamboyant, comical and portrayed with notable entertaining effect by Robert Paterno while Judas’s advocate is stern and dull, qualities not helped by Sarah Ruth Ryan’s tonally flat performance. Setting aside, as we must many of the play’s fallacies, the fact that the character is presented as a quasi-atheist despite living in purgatory and being familiar with the existence of heaven and hell, are we to attach any significance to her brief biographical sketch of rape, multiple abortions, and father issues? Individual characters are not de facto symbols of entire classes of people. But the question remains as to what extent Guirgis employs stereotypical straw figures to make his case. Atheists being portrayed as people rejecting the existing of God, not because it is the rational thing to do but because of some sort of deep-seated, trauma-fueled anger towards the divine order of things, is hardly new. Nor is the dangerous proximity to the anti-Semitic blood libel a recent invention, although one would think that by now the theologically-inclined would be more sensitive to assigning blame to Jews for Jesus’s death. Guirgis doesn’t quite cross the line, but he doesn’t steer too far away from it, either, making the play all the more risible.

Josh T. Ryan’s direction is not a particular asset either, unable to energize the most portentous drags of conversation that grind the second act almost to a halt. Between Ryan’s presentation and Guirgis’s script, the following memo comes to mind: Street clothes and profanity-laced dialogue do not by themselves imbue a text with realism and insight. They do, however, suggest a lack of budget and a poverty of imagination. Though Guirgis’s dialogue is often funny and colourful, it is rarely eloquent or beautiful. It’s mostly through the strength of the cast’s performances –  notably Faith Imafidon in the role of Saint Monica, Dee Smith as either Judas’s mother or Mary Magdalene, and Robert Paterno – that the whole affair succeeds in detonating genuine drama here and there. But just a bit.

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, by Stephen Adly Guirgis. At the Hudson Theatre Backstage until Saturday, Aug. 24. For tickets and information, visit https://www.plays411.net/newsite/show/play_info.asp?show_id=3484&skin_show_id=12.3484

Frédérik Sisa is the Page's Assistant Editor and resident arts, entertainment, and culture critic. He invites you to visit his blog, Ink & Ashes, and join him on Twitter as he figures out this whole tweeting business.