Stewart Lee is one of the men behind Jerry Springer – The Opera and so when he announced that he would perform his own solo play, directed by award-winning writer/actor Will Adamsdale, you could expect seats to go like hot cakes. If nothing else, there were likely to be a few fireworks and, with luck, blasphemy might be on the agenda.
The simple set also promises drama, consisting of little except a round table surrounded by chairs but topped by a sinister, hanging noose.
Lee opens proceedings by announcing that he is Judas and then explains to those who might be fooled by the beanie, scarf and high-laced DM’s that this is indeed the man who betrayed Jesus for twenty (sic) pieces of gold. The price is specified by a hoped-for theologian in the second row, who is rewarded with a bag of nuts (from the 98p shop by the tube station?).
Judas then runs through the story of his own and Jesus’ final week, leading up to a last supper that requires serious audience participation but at least offers everyone some cheap wine and a few loaves of bread.
The fifty-minute performance is delivered in the style of a stand-up routine by the chunky man, who covers almost every inch of the auditorium and involves and feeds the far fewer than 5,000 in attendance. As a performer, Lee seems very relaxed but this may have been a front as he seemingly got lost amongst his lines on more than one occasion but that might have been a deliberate manifestation of character.
The audience seemed a little bemused by the whole thing, with surprisingly few laughs at what ultimately became a deconstruction of the Gospels in search of laughs or at the very least some wry smiles.
If a top writer decides to attack this material, one might have expected something with more bite and shock effect. What we actually got was a series of sometimes amusing musings about an innocent man who got caught up in events but not the something special that we had all surely been hoping for.
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NevW47479, UKTV.co.uk
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Anon, dontstartmeoff.com
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General Lurko 36, Guardian.co.uk
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Anon, BBC Complaints Log
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BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
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John Robins, Comedian
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Esme Folley, Actress, cellist, Twitter
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James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
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Anonymous, The Northfield Patriot
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Dave Wilson, Chortle.com
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Maninabananasuit, Guardian.co.uk
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Yukio Mishima, dontstartmeoff.com
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Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph
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Henry Howard Fun, Twitter
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Pudabaya, beexcellenttoeachother.com
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Lee Mack, Mack The Life, 2012
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Anon, westhamonline.com
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Joe, Independent.co.uk
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Rowing Rob, Guardian.co.uk
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Carla, St Albans, Dailymail.co.uk
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Lenny Darksphere, Twitter
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Peter Ould, Youtube
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World Without End, Twitter
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Carcrazychica, Youtube
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A D Ward, Twitter
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Jamespearse, Twitter
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Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
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Fowkes81, Twitter
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Brendon, Vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk