Jerusalem

Along with Lucy Prebble’s “Enron”, “Jerusalem” has been one of the surprise hits of 2009, enjoying a sell out season at the Royal Court Theatre, landing numerous awards and critical acclaim before announcing a West End transfer in 2010. As a result, London audiences are given another opportunity to experience what all the fuss is about as it appears at the Apollo Theatre from February.

At the Evening Standard Theatre Awards at the end of 2009, “Jerusalem” dominated the night and picked up two awards – one for Best Play and another for Best Actor in its star Mark Rylance. With more award ceremonies likely to provide it with further accolades to its name, it is certainly a must-see production.

In “Jerusalem”, Mark Rylance portrays Johnny Byron, a local man who finds himself in high demand in all corners of the community and not for good reasons. The story takes place on St George’s Day in which a fair has arrived in town for all to enjoy – but with everyone wanting a piece of him, it is only his children that want him to go on the rides. A look around town will highlight the local police, who are after Johnny to put him behind bars for what they perceive to be the activities of a modern day Pied Piper. Elsewhere, the local council wish to have him evicted from his home; Troy Whitworth wants to provide him with a good beating and even his friends are in on the action, wanting to get hold of him so that they can provide him with the normal cocktail of booze and drugs.

Mark Rylance stars alongside Mackenzie Crook in the production who is best known to audiences for his role as Gareth in “The Office” (UK) and his regular appearances in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series of movies, whilst stage credits include “The Seagull” at the Royal Court Theatre.

But Rylance is no stranger to the stage himself and is well known for appearing in “Life x3” at the Donmar Warehouse and “True West” at the same venue. With critical acclaim attached to his performance as Johnny, expect to see a lot of him in the future.

The cast is rounded out by Jessica Barden, who is best known for her role in “Coronation Street”, and other players from the original production. They include Tom Brooke, Dan Poole, Lucy Montgomery, Sarah Moyle, Charlotte Mills, Danny Kirrane, Lenny Harvey, Gerard Horan, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Lewis Coppen, Alan David, Harvey Robinson, Greg Burridge and Barry Sloane.

“Jerusalem” is very likely to continue its success story at the Apollo Theatre in the West End, with critic and audience acclaim allowing it to attract big crowds. It runs at the venue from Wednesday 10th February 2010 (previews from Thursday 28th January 2010) until Saturday 24th April 2010.