New Book Spotlights Thespian Theology
by Marcia Z. Nelson, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 8/8/2007
If he ever loses his day job, Jesuit priest and author James Martin has something to fall back on. He's also now a member of the LAByrinth Theater Company, as a result of serving as theological consultant to the 2005 off-Broadway production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. Martin, associate editor at America magazine and author of My Life with the Saints (Loyola Press, 2006) recounts his theatrical experience in A Jesuit Off-Broadway: Center Stage with Jesus, Judas, and Life's Big Questions (Loyola, Sept.). The book goes behind the scenes of the production, combining theology, memoir, and reportage.
The unlikely thespian became involved in theater when he was contacted in 2004 by actor Sam Rockwell, who was preparing to play Judas in the drama written by Stephen Adly Guirgis, who pens the book's foreword. In an attempt to understand motivation and get details right, Rockwell, Guirgis and others involved in the play, including director Philip Seymour Hoffman, sought Martin's religious knowledge and theological interpretation. "Some (of the actors) knew quite a bit, some knew nothing," Martin said. The priest's involvement ultimately deepened as he grew to know the cast and crew. "My role morphed into chaplain, and then I became a friend," he said. He conducted the funeral Mass for playwright Guirgis' mother when she died.
After the production was over, the company asked him to join. He participated in a summer intensive workshop, where he studied voice and juggling. "It was a surprise and honor to be asked to join," the New York-based priest said. "It's like a big family. They know me now as someone they can come to with struggles or questions they have."
A launch event for the book is scheduled Sept. 24 at the Public Theater in New York, where Judas was staged. Guirgis and some of the original cast members will be featured. Ad placements will reach such non-traditional venues as theater bookstores and Playbill, the theatrical guide, and the book will have front table placement at the Borders chain.
