Actor’s Express raises urgent moral questions in ‘Jesus Hopped the “A” Train’

Quickly, we hear voices ricochet around the cell block, telling him over and over to shut up.

This moment sets the two-hour play on a course that’s both funny and increasingly dark — two staples of playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis. This faith-and-incarceration opus debuted in 2000, relatively early in Guirgis’ career. He went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in drama in 2015 for “Between Riverside and Crazy.”

Angel (Christian Gonzalez) is at Rikers Island — New York’s largest jail, infamous for decades as one of the nation’s most inhumane, abusive correctional institutions. Awaiting trial, Angel faces charges for the attempted murder of a wealthy “prosperity gospel” figure (and probable cult leader) who had “stolen” his friend.

Caught up in a kind of waking grief over his friend and his freedom, Angel is filled with righteous anger about the hypocrisy of the man he shot, someone who claims he’s the messiah amid his ski trips. The more details we learn, the grimmer the cult sounds.

Allusions to the power that extreme belief systems exert upon their trusting, obedient followers mark one of many ways that 2023 audiences may have caught up to Guirgis’ play. In recent years, we’ve been inundated with the methodology of cults, especially how they peddle faith, spirituality or even self-improvement to draw people in.

Credit: Greg Mooney

Credit: Greg Mooney

But that’s just a backdrop for the rich tapestry of the power (and abuse of power) dynamics going on inside the prison itself. To that end, we have prison guard Valdez (Luis Hernandez), a bigoted bully who’s not the least bit interested in the constitutional rights of those he cruelly lords over.

Played with cold efficiency and malevolent glee by Hernandez, the guard is an incredibly mundane version of evil — someone who thrives by enforcing rules no matter what. As one character asks: What kind of a person sticks around in a system so corrupt and miserable? Someone who likes subjugating others.

We learn that Angel will face a severe sentence in part because of a conviction when he was 16. Angel’s brutal experience in the hellscape of Rikers can be difficult to watch, thanks in large part to a beautiful, vulnerable performance by Gonzalez.

This brings us to the show’s other star and the only character who extends any empathy toward Angel: Lucius (Sekou Laidlow), a serial killer and deeply unreliable narrator. Delivered in a captivating, layered performance by Laidlow, the magnetic Lucius never loses the tinge of danger just beneath the surface, even as he claims to have found God.

At one point, he exercises in the yard, yelling out books of the Bible as a kind of motivational chant and delivering bumper-sticker worthy proclamations (“Make me a mustard seed, hold the mayo!”) until he, and we, are breathless. But even in stillness, Laidlow creates a tension between what we are being told and what is really going on beneath the surface.

When the truth emerges about the horrors that Lucius is responsible for and the casualness with which he has extinguished lives, it adds another layer to our questions about his current spiritual enlightenment. This also comes through by way of a beautifully delivered monologue about how Lucius used to recoil from the sun’s light.

But it’s also unclear whether these questions of morality even matter in an amoral environment like this. If a serial killer is the only person willing to be kind, what does that say about us?

Under the skilled direction of Eric J. Little, some of the longer exchanges between Lucius and Angel from their separate cells, situated across the stage from each other, can feel like watching a heated tennis match. Utilizing a sparse but impactful set by scenic designer Seamus M. Bourne, Little brings unpredictability to the actors’ movements and reactions, subtly choreographed, to keep us engaged. The focus is on the actors, rightly, given the skilled performers assembled here.

One major qualm: The play’s one female character, Angel’s court-appointed lawyer named Mary Jane, is thinly drawn in the script, making several choices that seem less like the moves of a seasoned defense attorney and more like the easiest way to set up certain stakes later.

Credit: Greg Mooney

Credit: Greg Mooney

It’s frustrating that she’s given short shrift in the writing, not only because she’s the one woman onstage, but also because actor Cara Mantella does fine work getting under the skin of an advocate experiencing an existential crisis. In one particularly well-delivered line, she advises Angel, “The trick is to get a lawyer who makes the least mistakes.”

The play raises many urgent questions, many of which do not get answered. The latter half of the show also loses its way a bit in favor of too much exposition and some confusing character development.

Most gratingly, toward the end, we get a few hacky explanations for why Lucius has done what he’s done, including an entire cadre of mental health diagnoses and substance use disorders — none of which fully explain sociopathy or psychopathy. And yes, it’s possible Lucius may be a pathological liar, but all of this is thrown in so quickly and casually at the end that it really sticks out.

Even as the play unravels toward the end, there are highlights. For instance, we are treated to a glorious monologue from actor Jacob York as a more sympathetic guard and foil to Valdez, which made me think of Sister Helen Prejean, author of the book “Dead Man Walking.” It’s absorbing to see the building blocks that Guirgis would use to develop his voice later in his career.

In fact, it’s always a fascinating experience to experience the early work of artists before they’ve fine-tuned what they do — like van Gogh before he discovered sunflowers.

This imperfect play about our deeply unjust judicial system and the systemic hostility toward kindness and dignity in our prisons is a bold and often moving tale that is absolutely not for the faint of heart.

THEATER REVIEW

“Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train”

Through July 2. 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays. 2 p.m. Sundays. $20-$40. Actor’s Express at King Plow Arts Center, 887 West Marietta St. NW. Atlanta. 404-607-7469, actors-express.com.

::

Alexis Hauk is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association. She has written and edited for numerous newspapers, alt-weeklies, trade publications and national magazines including Time, The Atlantic, Mental Floss, Uproxx and Washingtonian. An Atlanta native, Alexis has also lived in Boston, Washington D.C., New York City and Los Angeles. By day, she works in health communications. By night, she enjoys covering the arts and being Batman.

.

Credit: ArtsATL

Credit: ArtsATL

MEET OUR PARTNER

ArtsATL (www.artsatl.org), is a nonprofit organization that plays a critical role in educating and informing audiences about metro Atlanta’s arts and culture. Founded in 2009, ArtsATL’s goal is to help build a sustainable arts community contributing to the economic and cultural health of the city.

If you have any questions about this partnership or others, please contact Senior Manager of Partnerships Nicole Williams at nicole.williams@ajc.com.