|
 
Savior the moment
A bloodied, shirtless, seemingly deranged prophet bursts into a backwoods cabin and then bursts into verse in "The Gospel of Cyrus According to Cyrus."
By JOSHUA TANZER
Offoffoff.com
For those of us who suspect that it's a thin line between a
religious visionary and a psychotic, there's "The Gospel of Cyrus
According to Cyrus,"
a one-man, one-musician show at Theater for the New City.
Haggard, shirtless, bloodied, with a look of violence in his eyes, Cyrus
(Jessejames Locorriere) bursts into an old backwoods cabin as if the
hounds are at his heels. He grips a long flintlock rifle and holds it
firmly against his groin while he dares God and man to bring on his final
destruction — not the last time that sexual and religious fanatacism
will be intertwined in this play. And he does so, we quickly notice, in
rhymed couplets.
|
| THE GOSPEL OF CYRUS ACCORDING TO CYRUS |
Written by: Chris Talbott.
Directed by: Laramie Dennis.
Cast: Jessejames Locorriere.
Music by: Rowland Stebbins.
|
| |
Cyrus recounts his hardscrabble childhood, his dysfunctional upbringing and
his inspiration by God. God has given him a strange but nicely achievable
mission: get drunk and stay that way. This doesn't rank with truth and
salvation as personal missions from God, but it does somehow bring him a
fanatical following. Of course, having a fanatical following can be a
dangerous thing if they turn on you, which seems to be what has happened
to the deranged, gun-toting, whiskey-swilling Cyrus.
Our boy not only spouts rhyming verse, he also sings the occasional
country tune to further dramatize his shocking tale, with accompaniment by
singer-guitarist Rowland Stebbins. The music, along with the timeless quality of
the pre-technology shack and the antique rifle, adds to the all-American flavor of
this peculiar but evocative fable.
|
FEBRUARY 21, 2000
OFFOFFOFF.COM • THE GUIDE TO ALTERNATIVE NEW YORK
Reader comments on The Gospel of Cyrus According to Cyrus:
Post a comment on "The Gospel of Cyrus According to Cyrus"
|
|
|
