RUDIMENTS, pt. 1,270
(one part rough blemish)
My first theatrical role, back
when I did that stuff, was as
(Francis) Walsingham, in
one of those Shakespeare
plays covering that era.
Walsingham was Queen
Elizabeth's Spymaster,
back in the 1500's. It was
a simple, crafty role, and
I played it discreetly and
secretly, as befitting the role.
Spymaster. Cryptologist. A
member of The Watchers,
who guarded the Protestant
Queen from hostile Catholics.
It was fun, but a real dead-end.
The second role was Judas
Iscariot, the crazed red-haired
disciple of Jesus who betrayed
him for the proverbial 30 pieces
of silver, and then, in regret,
runs off and hangs himself.
That too was fun, and there
were so many ways to play
the role; I tried at least three
variations, during a 5-week
performance schedule. That
role caused me all sorts of
doubts, mainly because it was
so bogus. The church itself, and
the Biblical reportings, attest
to nothing. You can't play it as
a sadly human role, a mapped
out flip of disappointment and
betrayal. That's the bleeding
heart liberal 'Commonweal'
Catholic way ('Commonweal,'
back in the 60's was a very liberal,
open, and 'reformist' Catholic
weekly that parlayed all those
cheap emotional sentiments of
the traditional 'Good Lord Jesus'
mode into screaming liberal
causes of a destitute social cant.
That was then; God only knows
what any of that would be now.
Probably gay priests marrying
Lesbian nuns would foot their
social-justice bill). The issue of
Judas just can't be whittled down
to that, because it opens a far
wider and more determinist, and
serious too, scope of philosophy
and sort of rips a heart out of
the usual church doctrine, or the
sort of church doctrine anyway
that gets bandied about during
Easter Week and all that Good
Friday wailing and slobbering.
Jose, it just ain't so!
-
If the entire scope of Christian
Salvation revolves around the
Crucifixion and around Christ's
death and rising, then in the
very wide scope of 'God's' plan
there had to be a necessitated
role for a scapegoat to do all
that, i.e. Judas. Without Judas
Iscariot, there is no Salvation,
and any ideas of the Son of God
coming to Earth in human body
and form, to be turned over, by
Humanity, to die and ascend, etc.,
depend, for implementation, on a
a Judas character. In fact, Judas
Iscariot, to be really correct, is
probably the third most important
man who ever lived, maybe right
behind Adam and Jesus. (If one
wishes to throw in others, like
Moses and Abraham, I won't
stop you nor object). By those
factors, Judas and his role in
Salvation acquit him entirely
of any culpability or even a
'betrayal.' The same 'God' who
who made the Earth would have
had - just as well - to have
made Judas, to do his appointed
role. It's irrefutable, and probably
puts a form of 'Predestination'
in a new light.
-
So there really was nothing 'tragic'
in the role - and thus no need for the
histrionics and horrid sentimentality
usually given to it. It actually should
be much more of a 'Triumphant' role,
portraying completion and deliverance.
I found myself unable to find any
kid-scratching priest or brother to
share my idea. They were adamant
and felt only the need to defend the
doctrine-stories usually presented.
I, of course, by that time had lost
all faith, and saw right through the
smokescreen of Potemkin Village
BS that the 'Church' throws up. It
was an eye-opener for me and a
true starter for my realization of
how bogus the trappings and
circumstantial underpinnings of
church doctrine are. In the entirety
of History, this stuff was all made
up and entered into the formative
ages of the secular world 300 years
after the fact. Council of Nicea,
Council of Trent, and the rest.
-
The problem was, how does one
portray a 'Judas' character as
triumphal without one's self being
crucified, so to speak, for doing so?
It was certainly a Godspell moment,
for sure - like any of those 1960's
versions of the Passion in which
the scene is moved to the ghetto
and the Jesus character ends up
getting strapped up to a chain-link
fence at some God-awful slum
parkland, to expire there after
brickbats, bottles and trash are
thrown at him. Salvation wears,
most certainly, a coat of many
colors, all of its own accord.
There are a million ways to
portray betrayal, and death,
and Salvation too.
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