Jerusalem

Finding heroes in unlikely figures is nothing new to drama but I doubt there has ever been a hero like Johnny “Rooster” Byron before. Eccentric to the extreme and a truly mysterious, captivating personality as played by Mark Rylance, Johnny is a welcome addition to the cast of characters on the Great White Way. Jez Butterworth’s play Jerusalem, brought to Broadway after a successful run in London, introduces the audience to Johnny, an amazingly odd man in Flintlock, England. Encamped in a squalid trailer in the woods, Johnny is a favorite of the local teens, serving as their drug dealer and host to numerous wild parties. He is also waging one last stand against the government attempting to evict him from his home.The show shares a title with the hymn by Hubert Parry, from a poem by William Blake. The hymn’s first lines are, “And did those feet in ancient time/Walk upon England’s mountains green?” and are sung at the beginning of the show by a young girl dressed in a fairy costume.Jerusalem takes place on St. George’s Day in Flintock, Wiltshire County. The locals are planning festival that welcomes spring, and many have sought Johnny as a source of amusement or escape from the mundane activities of the day.Played by Rylance, it’s easy to see why Johnny is appealing to so many people. A self-proclaimed daredevil, he claims he was once the entertainment of the festival, performing motorcycle stunts and even being pronounced dead for a few moments. He also claims he was born with a full set of teeth after being conceived of a virgin birth and recently conversed with Druidic giants. Now he is a nonstop partier who breakfasts on stale milk, vodka, speed and a raw egg before spending his day selling drugs to the local youths. Yes, the words sound crazy as I type them, but Rylance delivers these speeches with such easy and innocent conviction that they are almost believable.Johnny isn’t a hero to everyone, however, and certainly not to the mother of his son (played by Geraldine Hughes). She is well aware of, and infuriated by, his shortcomings, but is still drawn into the spell of his magnetism. But Rylance is able to portray Johnny’s flaws as well as his undeniable zest for life and the joy that the simplest actions bring to him. Grunting and swaggering around the stage, despite his slight limp, he conveys the method to the madness of Johnny's life.Rylance is joined onstage by a stellar ensemble, many of whom were a part of the original London cast. MacKenzie Crook is excellent as Ginger, Johnny’s perhaps too faithful sidekick. John Gallagher Jr. is Lee, the eager young man about to leave on a journey to Australia, and Alan David is a standout as The Professor, a man who is more than a little absentminded. Aimeé-Ffion Edwards plays the mysterious missing Phaedra, a young girl running from an abusive father who Johnny tries in his own way to save. And Charlotte Mills and Danny Kirrane are also excellent in the ensemble of actors.The lush green setting, complete with birds softly singing in the background, is the perfect setting for the pastoral peace and inevitable conflict that takes place, beautifully contrasting with the final scene where Rylance’s performance surpasses anything ever seen onstage before. It is a truly wondrous achievement.More than three hours long and certainly an unusual story for a night at the theater, Jerusalem may be alienating to some audience members. But others will be irresistibly captivated by it. If you are, don’t resist. It’s a journey worth making.