Wilbury Group to Conclude 2015-16 Season with Regional Premiere of JERUSALEM

The Wilbury Theatre Group proudly closes its 2015/16 season with the Rhode Island premiere of Jerusalem, Jez Butterworth's epic Tony and Olivier award-winning play, May 19-June 4, 2016.

Wilbury Artistic Director Josh Short directs and David Tessier (The Player in 14/15's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead) stars in the role of Johnny "Rooster" Byron, a role made famous in a Tony award-winning performance by Mark Rylance. Recognized as a seminal play of the 21st Century, Jerusalem is about our relationship with sacred land and the balance we strike when confronted with its economic development. The state of Jerusalem is invoked as a metaphor, placed in the West of England where ancient Druid ruins are quickly becoming swept away by the sprawl of suburban industry.
Jerusalem runs May 19-June 4 at The Wilbury Theatre Group, 393 Broad Street, Providence RI. Tickets are $15-$25. Call 401-400-7100 or order online at thewilburygroup.org/jerusalem.

Johnny "Rooster" Byron squats on a precious piece of "holy land," a final holdout against urban growth. A former motorcycle daredevil claiming to have been conceived on the tip of a speeding bullet, he has for 27 years held court as a drug dealer and pied-piper-like wise man to generations of impoverished suburban teens. Part Falstaff, part Evil Knevil, and part Henry V, Rooster stubbornly guards his land from real estate developers and enables rites of passage for kids whose parents have nothing to give them.

When the town fathers finally move to evict Rooster, he draws an eloquent line in the sand, summoning giants and angels to defend his "Jerusalem" to the death-his chemistry and rhetoric a glorious blend of sideshow carnival banter and grand Shakespearian verse. Amidst its metaphors and bold imagery, this tale is strikingly contemporary, grappling with the challenges of urban progress and encroachment into rural, sacred, and environmentally protected regions-issues that resonate particularly strongly with Rhode Island audiences.

"Rarely are plays as imaginative and truly epic in scope as Jerusalem written anymore, much less produced," says Artistic Director Josh Short. "In a style that's equal parts Shakespeare and Sam Shepard, Butterworth has created a world of magic and mysticism grounded in the reality of a 21st century English forest. And smack dab in the middle of it is Johnny Rooster Byron, one of the most memorable characters in 21st century theatre. The cast and creative team we've assembled is among the most talented we've ever had, and I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say that we are truly lucky to be working on a piece as raw and beautiful as Jerusalem."

Premiered in 2009 at the Royal Court Theatre, London, Jerusalem won the Evening Standard Award for Best Play in 2009, and transferred to the West End in 2010. It opened on Broadway in April 2011 at the Music Box Theatre where it received a Tony Award nomination for Best Play and the award for Best Actor in a Play for Mark Rylance.

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