Jerusalem

The Telegraph“Rylance seems even more magnificent now than he did last summer... ” There is a rough, rapt stage poetry in Butterworth's speeches for Byron that Rylance seizes on with mesmerising mixture of mischief and wonder. But the dramatist also has a brilliant ear for the demotic in the dialogue of the teenage kids...

Financial Times“This play, this production, this performance are sensational... ” Rylance magnificently finds the elemental current running through Rooster as through the soil on which the character swaggers. He is, like nature itself, wondrous and terrible by turns or even simultaneously...

The Stage“A superb piece of theatre...” Johnny ‘Rooster’ Byron is a master storyteller, charismatic and funny. We are as much in his thrall as some of the local villagers, although they are more there for the drugs he deals than the tales he weaves of giants...

The Times“A hilarious, enchanting, affecting evening...” Rickson’s direction is so good that you don’t notice it: Jerusalem simply looks and feels like real life, but with all the boring bits taken out...

Evening Standard“Nourishing, freewheeling and frequently mesmerising... ” Rylance thrillingly inhabits the role of Johnny Byron, a charismatic waster whose caravan — a mobile home only in name — is the hub of the local party scene. He is the play’s beating heart...

Whatsonstage.com“One of the great performances of our time...” The Shakespearean anti-hero provides Rylance with his greatest ever modern role, a wounded warrior of the woods with elements of Falstaff, Jack Cade and, in the last act, one of Richard Widmark’s hunted, haunted hoodlums...

Time Out“An edgy piece of new writing...” Tom Brooke is a treat as wide-eyed would-be emigré Lee Piper and Mackenzie Crook slouches his way into Byron's sadsack hanger-on, Ginger. This is a production which you will find very hard to evict from your imagination...

The Independent“Beautifully directed...” It's a wonderfully funny feat, shadowed by darkness. Just watch the mixture of oblivious child-like wonder and adult denial with which he stares at the mobile phone playing footage of him drunkenly smashing his own TV with a cricket bat...

Guardian“I was mesmerised...” Much of the greatness of Rylance's performance lies in the way he captures the twin aspects of Byron's character. He tells of meeting giants on the A14 with the relish of a natural charmer...

Remotegoat.co.uk“Not yet reviewed...”