Judgement (excerpt)

Synopsis:

Judgement is Part 1 of a trilogy of free-standing plays titled ‘Trinity’.  The other two parts are ‘Pieta’ and ‘Ascension’.

It is the Middle East, circa 2007.

Major General Pontius Pilate, Commander-in-Chief of the US Armed Forces occupying the region, has a suspected insurgent on his hands by the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

Out in the streets below, amidst the sound of small arms fire and general civil unrest, the crowd bays for Jesus’ blood.  As a blasphemer, he must be executed.

Pilate, however, is fearful of the political fallout should he accede to their demands.

The Judgement of Jesus of Nazareth has begun.

Attended by his faithful but pre-occupied Corporal Joseph Schweik, assisted by his less than scrupulous lieutenant, Roy Cohn, and advised by his long-time, gutter-smart friend, High Priest Joseph Caiaphas, Pilate rounds up all the usual suspects, chief amongst whom is Mary Magdalene.

As the case unfolds, Pilate hatches a plan, in the prosecution of which he enlists the aid of one Judith Iscariot, an unwitting and idealistic rookie journalist for NBC.

What ensues is as irreverent as it is profound, as unsettling as it is moving, as provocative as it is hilarious, as anarchic as it is subtle.

What we are left with at the end of this epic journey is a striking sense of the unwavering mission of Jesus of Nazareth – a mission as simple as it is subversive, the latter quality never more apparent than in its power to provoke war in the name of peace.

Character Breakdown:

Cast of five males, two females:

JESUS 

Gen. Pontius PILATE   Commander-in-Chief, US Armed Forces, Mid-East

Lt. Roy COHN   PILATE’S aide

Joseph CAIAPHAS    Priest

Joseph SCHWEIK   Corporal, US Army

Mary MAGDALENE

Judith ISCARIOT   Embedded journalist with US Armed Forces

Setting:

Middle East, present day.

At his first entrance, JESUS is bearded, dressed in Middle Eastern garb.

Running-time: 150 minutes.

Production History: Not yet produced.

Excerpt available for download for free.