Playwright: Jez Butterworth. At: Profiles Theatre, 4139 N. Broadway. Tickets: 1-773-549-1815; www.profilestheatre.org; $35-$40. Runs through: April 24
"Jerusalem" is the widely-popular British patriotic anthem which sings of "that green and pleasant land"England, not the Holy Landwith a symbolic tilt against industrialization.
Jez Butterworth's big, meaty play riffs on the anthem, drawing widely on English mythology ( the giants who built Stonehenge, St. George the dragon-slayer ) and traditional popular culture ( Morris dancing and Yuletide pantomimes ). It's a shout-out to old English values of rugged independence and attachment to the land paid for with ancient blood, and a cry against oppressive regulation and conformity. Butterworth all but says that England has lost its nobility and spiritual ( distinct from religious ) center and no longer is "this other Eden, demi-paradise" as Shakespeare called it in Richard II.
In all respects Jerusalem is extremely well-donelarge ensemble cast, scenic design, props, funky costumesbut still presents problems. First, it's so very Anglo-centric that American audiences will not fully understand its cultural context. For instance, few will recognize that Thad Hallstein's utterly perfect scenic design incorporates a setting for a British holiday show, Babes in the Woods, which is thematically appropriate. Second, at three hours ( two intermissions ) it's self-indulgent writing, even though Butterworth and director Joe Jahraus never let it become boring or slow. Third, the central character, who bears Butterworth's grievances and message, is so outrageously irresponsible that sympathizing with him ( you choose: devil or angel ) is difficult.
Johnny "Rooster" Byron ( Darrell W. Cox ) is fortysomething, lives in a trailer in the woods of 1990s Wiltshire ( the English county where Stonehenge is located ), has no visible means of support, has an illegitimate son, is a public drunken brawler and plies local teens/young adults with booze and drugs. No wonder local authorities plan to evict Johnny and bulldoze his woodsy rave spot, despite his deep local roots. Wiltshire born-and-bred, Johnny knows too muchliterally and mysticallyabout his English turf.
Act I introduces Johnny and his aimless, unmotivated young adherents. Sorry, I have zero interest in yet another play about adolescent slackers. In Act II, Johnny channels Falstaff, Shakespeare's Dionysian pseudo-father figure who empowers social disorder, placing heart and liberty over Apollonian reason. This is more interesting. Cox allows us to glimpse Johnny's sporadic charm, encouraging the young'uns to be true to themselves, which most take as license to be quirky. In Act III, civic authorities and vigilante justice pursue Johnny. He doesn't deserve vigilante justice, but he's a train wreck who can'tor won'tclear his own tracks, a poor representative for the heroic ideals he believes he embodies.
Butterworth gives Johnny no way out. His time is overjust like the giants of his stories. Butterworth's bitter political pill is that Jerusalem has been destroyed, if it ever existed.