Jerusalem

It's true what everyone's been saying. Each person I've asked what to see on Broadway has told me that I must see Jerusalem, written by Jez Butterworth and titled for the famous British hymn by William Blake, simply because Mark Rylance is so damn good.
The other cast members come together to create this story in a brilliant way, it's true, McKenzie Crook as Ginger, Jay Sullivan as Lee, Charlotte Mills as Tanya and all the rest, but Mark Rylance transforms himself so completely and lays himself vulnerable to the carnage of the stage in such a way that so utterly befits the character, Johnny "Rooster" Byron, that you cannot disbelieve him for a moment. That best actor Tony is so well deserved.
My favorite thing about Jez Butterworth's work, as he weaves us the story of a woodland strung-out slacker facing impending eviction from the illegal silver bullet trailer he's been living in for twenty years, was the sense of magic he brings to the play. Taking place on St. George's day, and fair day for this particular town, Butterworth alludes to elves, fairies, giants, ghosts, Peter Pan, The Pied Piper, Robin Hood, and so on. Johnny Byron, has such an ability to create fantastical tales one after the other, that you are distracted from the character's deep, deep wounds (physical and emotional) and begin to wonder if you are, in fact, watching a mythical figure.