Thoughts on Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train

Of course we all know that I love the Signature Theatre - I like how they commit to writers and do several of their plays over a few seasons.  I also like how they do second productions of plays that deserve another look.  I further like that they are really working on having diversity in their programming.  So it's obvious I was going to go check out their production of Stephen Adly Guirgis' Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train.  

I missed the original Off-Broadway production of this play, though I had read it a while back.  The only two of Stephen's plays I've seen are Motherf*cker with a Hat and Between Riverside and Crazy (remind yourself of my review HERE).  Stephen writes dialogue like no one else.  There's a roughness and an authenticity to his characters and the way they speak; I really admire that.  Plus, the characters all sound like themselves and not like the author, if you know what I mean.  I really admire that, too.  Normally, I don't like scripts that have so much profanity in them; to me, it seems like the author just throws in the rough language for a laugh.  But here, I really believe this is how the characters speak, it's their actual dialect, and it works like gangbusters for me.  They immediately draw me in and I get totally immersed in what's happening to them.

This production has had some setbacks - two of the originally-announced actors have been recast, one during rehearsals and one just last week, so instead of seeing the start of the third week of previews, I saw only the third preview with this particular cast.  One actor was even on book for a bit of the evening.  So I'll only mention a few thoughts:  first thought, go see this play!

photo credit: Joan Marcus

Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train is a passionate look at good vs evil, heaven vs hell, self-knowledge vs delusion.  It's about a lot of things and it boldly grabs us from the opening monologue and doesn't let go.  That opening monologue is funny and sad and profane, all at once, and it just keeps building until you think it can't sustain itself, but it does.  The play takes place on Rikers Island, where a new prisoner, Angel Cruz, and a longtime prisoner, Lucius Jenkins, are both trying to survive.  The revelations about how each man got where he is are quite surprising - I could hear gasps in the audience throughout the night.  Other characters in the play include a defense attorney and two prison guards.

No one is who you think they are, and the flashback and flash-forward monologues that break up the action reveal much about not only the characters, but also end up revealing things about ourselves in how we respond to them.  The play is really very cleverly constructed and very lean - there's nothing extraneous or unnecessary.  There are some monologues that are so over-the-top amazing, I sort of wanted to stop time and wallow in them.  And the acting is absolutely fantastic, top to bottom.  

Before the show started, a Signature employee came on stage and told us that one actor might have to refer to his script during the evening, since he came on board only a week ago.  There was also a prompter in the audience, if needed.  After about a minute, I totally forgot that someone in the cast was new.  They all seemed to be in perfect sync, firing on all cylinders.  When the newest actor brought some pages on for a few scenes, I actually thought it was part of the play, I was so invested in what he was doing.  Only after a few minutes did it dawn on me that he must've been an actor referring to his script as opposed to the character referring to some legal documents.

The physical production is spare, which worked well.  I liked the sound design, though a couple of cues may have come in late, because I wasn't sure if they were meant to be there or not, but that's probably a tech quirk that will be worked out during previews.  I won't say much more, except I really enjoyed myself (except for during intermission, when the couple next to me got into an argument about our current president with a couple behind them - I was quite irked; theater is my safe space, I go there to get AWAY from that crap!  ok, happy place, moving on) and I think you should go.  I'm considering getting a ticket (if I can, Signature generally sells out pretty quickly) for later in the run to see how everything has gelled even more.  But this show, with all its pre-production hiccups, is already pretty terrific.  As is Stephen Adly Guirgis, truth be told.  Support his work.