On Tuesday Oct. 15 Moorpark College’s theatre department premiered “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot”. The show was well received by the audience due to the high quality of script and talent of the actors.
Bren’Don Keeling, a crew member, expressed his feelings regarding the play.
“Instead of just giving the lines they actually add physical comedy to it which completes the funny bits of it,” stated Keeling. “I like comedy. I like it when an actor can actually portray not only what’s on paper but what they feel a character should be doing, and they did that very well here.”
Audience members devoted full focus throughout the play, giving their full attention to the scenes that unfolded before them. There were times when the audience couldn’t control their laughter.
At the end of the play nearly half of the students who attended the performance stayed behind to ask the director and cast questions while also raving about how much they enjoyed it.
Students stayed after the play to receive feedback from the play director, Suzanne Fagan on the the improvisational liberties she took.
In reference to the character Saint Monica, Fagan said, “I think this was like the best liberty. I think if the playwright came he’d be like ‘I love your Saint Monica’.”
Fagan’s team of actors explain how they’ve left the show with new skillsets after practicing 16 hours a week since auditions took place in August.
Richard Gray, who played the role of Saint Monica expressed his yearning to go out and perform more plays such as this one, even though he believed he was always born to be a dancer instead.
The crew of Judas continuously expressed the growth that they had achieved while working on the play.
Robert Santiago, who played the role of Jesus, grew a lot as an actor in preparation for this performance stating, “This is my first official lead character, I would say, in a play. So it was a lot of very good experience on a stage interacting with other people because I usually just play background or very minimal speaking roles.”
Judas will continue to run the entire weekend until its last performance this Sunday at 2 p.m.
Tickets are available for purchase via online or at the PAC box office upon arrival. Students interested in future productions can look forward to performances of “Romeo and Juliet” in the spring.
