“...what I need you to believe is that if you hate who I love, you do not know me at all.  And make no mistake, “Who I Love” is every last one.” – Jesus in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot 

TORONTO, January 11, 2011 − Theatre @ York presents Stephen Adly Guirgis’ 2005 hit, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, a  fast-paced, edgy courtroom ‘dramedy’ running January 23 to 29 in the Joseph G. Green Studio Theatre at York University.

Set in Purgatory, the play re-opens the case against the Great Betrayer, with everyone from Mother Teresa to Sigmund Freud brought to the stand to testify. Paul Muir directs a remarkable cast from York’s MFA Acting program in this hilarious, intellectually provocative dramatization of the trial of ‘God and the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth versus Judas Iscariot’.

“I think Charlotte Stoudt of The Village Voice said it best when she said: "This ain't your Grandmother's Gospel!" said Muir.

Notwithstanding all the fun to be found in the playwright’s irreverent approach to his subject matter, there’s a deep and serious undercurrent. Muir cites New York Times critic Ben Brantley’s statement that Guirgis infuses his play with "a stirring sense of Christian existential pain, which wonders at the paradoxes of faith."

“In the midst of all its humour, profanity and darkness, The Last Days ofJudas Iscariot delivers a message of hope that the world desperately needs,” said Muir. “The truth might just be that it is never, ever too late to choose freedom and light over darkness and despair.

“But this choice is not an easy one. In fact it's one of the most difficult and challenging struggles we face as human beings. How do we truly find our way to forgiveness and freedom when we are lost in the pit of self-condemnation and despair?”

Muir, who is currently completing an MFA in directing in York’s Theatre Department, has most recently been associated with Alberta’s Rosebud Theatre as a company actor and education director. His directing credits with Rosebud include Confessions of a Paper Boy (re-mounted at the Vancouver Fringe in summer 2010), When the Sun Meets the Earth, The Homecoming, Salt-Water Moon, Crimes of the Heart, The Clearing and The Zoo Story.

Theatre @ York’s production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot features a creative team of undergraduates handling all aspects of the production design and execution.

Now in its 42nd season, Theatre @ York is one of Toronto’s longest-running theatre companies. Every year, the company features some of Canada's most promising performance and production talent in a challenging and entertaining slate of plays drawn from the contemporary and classical repertoire.

Based in the Department of Theatre at York University, the company has been a springboard for a generation of outstanding Canadian theatre artists. Theatre @ York alumni include stage and screen actors Rachel McAdams, Thom Marriott, Tamara Bernier, Patrick Galligan, Melody Johnson, Deborah Hay, Maurice Dean Wint and Christine Horne; playwrights Djanet Sears and Diane Flacks; and directors Richard Rose and Jillian Keiley. 

What: Theatre @ York presents The Last Days of Judas Iscariot directed by Paul Muir
When:  January 23-29, opening Tues. Jan. 25
Schedule:
Previews Jan. 23 and 24 at 7:30pm
Opens Jan 25 and runs to Jan. 29 at 7:30pm nightly
Matinees Jan. 26 and 28 at 1pm.
Where: Joseph G. Green Studio Theatre, Centre for Film and Theatrem York University, 4700 Keele St. | Map
Admission: $17 | students & seniors $12 | Previews $5
Come Play with Us! season subscription $40 |  students & seniors: $25
Box Office: 416.736.5888 | www.yorku.ca/perform/boxoffice

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 York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 200,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 10 Faculties and 28 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.

Media Contact:
Amy Stewart, Communications, Faculty of Fine Arts, York University
416.650.8469  |  amy.stewart@yorku.ca