"Jerusalem"

It's hard to believe that anyone could have topped the remarkable performance that actor Mark Rylance gave as the overbearing, egotistical Valere in La Bete last fall. He pranced about on stage while delivering a 25-minute monologue in iambic pentameter. It was a Tony-worthy performance — practically unbeatable, unless it’s by Rylance himself.

Rylance has returned to the Broadway stage in the Royal Court Theatre’s production of Jerusalem, by Jez Butterworth. The play received rave notices in London and garnered Rylance the Olivier Award as Best Actor.

He plays John "'Rooster" Byron, an Evel Knievel-type daredevil, living in England in the woods in a rundown trailer called ‘Waterloo.’ Although his daredevil days are over, leaving him with a noticeable limp, he’s still frenetic and feisty, pushing the limits. This is the character that Rylance does best.

The community has endured Rooster’s presence for 29 years, but now his drug-dealing and wild parties have become a blight to the local housing development and he’s being evicted. It’s obvious to Rooster that the real reason is that someone wants to build on the land on which he’s been living tax-free. Rooster’s home is a sanctuary for the local youth as well as a source for drugs. He seems to provide support as well as sustenance, and I can't remember the last time I saw so much eating done onstage.

The play begins with Phaedra, a 15-year-old girl singing the sentimental song “Jerusalem,” based upon the poem by William Blake. She has been missing for a week, and Troy, her stepfather, is convinced that she’s staying with Rooster. Rooster subtly suggests that Troy has designs on the young girl. There's implied violence and Rooster knows that Troy and his brothers will return, yet he shows no fear or hesitation.

The play runs about three hours, difficult to sit through by any Broadway standards, but as long as Rylance is on stage, the time flies by. He’s perpetual energy, in constant motion despite the leg he drags about. A combination Pied Piper/ Peter Pan to the group of young people who seek refuge in his woods, he is a local institution and his woods are Jerusalem, metaphorically heaven on earth.

There is also something almost mystical about Rooster. He has an inexplicable hold on people. When Dawn, the estranged mother of his 6-year-old son, peers deeply in his eyes, she is almost mesmerized and begins to tremble. Later Rooster tells the boy that he and the other Byrons have magical blood. He dramatically tells the tallest of tales, including one about meeting a 90-foot giant who claims to have built Stonehenge, and the teenagers and we, in the audience, listen in rapt attention, almost believing him. When one of the young men pounds on the drum that, supposedly, will summon the spirits, I felt sure they would appear.

His woods evoke those spirits and ghosts and an idyllic English time gone by. In fact, the play takes place on the eve of the annual St. George’s fair. Producers feared that this very English play might not resonate with American audiences, and perhaps, they are right. There is a British theme, subtly suggested by the faded Union Jack on the curtain. The title of the play refers to a poem by William Blake in which he suggests that in his “missing years,” Jesus actually traveled to the West Country in England. The show is bemoaning the changing of England and the loss of identity. However, I’m not sure if without the help of the Playbill notes and Google, I would have grasped much of that.

My companion at the show marveled at Rylance and then asked, “but what's the point?” Undoubtedly for the English, the show has a different point. For us Americans, the experience is watching Rylance give a Tony-award winning performance. He is remarkable and embodies a fascinating and exhilarating character.

We’ve had a British invasion this theater season. If you are a lover of fine unforgettable acting, you will want to see Mark Rylance in Jerusalem. And that’s the point!