By Isaac Hamlet
The Last Days of Judas Iscariot is the kind of play in which Hope is a suburb between Heaven and Hell, located downtown, around the corner from Purgatory. It’s the kind of play in which St. Monica talks like a ’90s 20-something from the West Coast. It’s the kind of play in which you can find Satan sitting on the witness stand wearing a Gucci jacket, pleading innocent.It’s the kind of show you might start seeing at the Mill, 120 E. Burlington St.
Luke Spurlock-Brown and Rich LeMay are both theater lovers who worked at the Mill and eventually decided to start a theater company together.
“I think we’ve gotten to the point where it’s not a pipe dream anymore,” said Spurlock-Brown, whose also produces and acts in the show.
They selected The Last Days of Judas Iscariot to be the first show for the Run of the Mill Theater Company. The production opens at 7 p.m. Friday at the Mill.
“Luke and I have been doing theater in the community for a while,” said LeMay, who directs the show. “This is a way to do a cool thing in the Mill that no one’s ever done here.”
It’s an ambitious opening. The show has just shy of 30 parts split among 15 actors, meaning most of the performers have two, if not three, parts to play.
This in addition to , as Spurlock-Brown pointed out, “The Mill is a music venue, where people only have to be lit from the front — we decided to do a play here.”
Jill White, the stage manager, helped them realize their aspiration.
“The second [she] heard we were doing it, [she was] on board,” Spurlock-Brown said.
White has worked in the space to try to make the show the best it can be. Even with so many actors and characters, the play is made up largely of monologues in which characters speak directly to the audience, making it a surprising fit for the Mill’s intimate stage.
“Being in this space has been experimental,” White said. “Because the entrances require the actors to go through the audience members, [they] are part of the experience.”
The play is one of Spurlock-Brown’s favorites, which is part of why LeMay directs it. Spurlock-Brown believess he potentially brings too much baggage to be the director.
“I have wanted to put this play on for a very long time,” he said. “When I read the play, I heard the voices in my head and pictured the sets much as they are here, which amazes me.”
The plan is to announce the next show for the year after they open The Last Days of Judas Iscariot and at that point, LeMay and Spurlock-Brown will swap directing and acting duties.
In forming this theater company, the creators hope to help give local actors a stage to showcase their craft. All of the profit they make from the show they intend to put immediately into their next production.
As for their current project, they’re more than ready for people to see it.
“[The Director, Rich LeMay] has a cohesive idea about how he wants it to come together,” Spurlock-Brown said. “So even with 15 people, I never imagined anything would be an issue because I knew I was working with him.”
