by Stephen Adly Guirgis
Azeotrope / ACT Theatre, Seattle, WA

Scenic: Deanna Zibello | Costumes: Kimberley Newton | Lighting: Jessica Trundy | Sound: Jay Weinland | Music: Christian “Lil Kriz” Beeber

PRESS

“Profound matters of guilt, faith and contrition are central to the gritty, contemporary plays of New York dramatist Stephen Adly Guirgis, as is evident in a current Seattle staging of one of his most riveting works… Thanks to director Desdemona Chiang’s skill, Azeotrope’s staging in the small Eulalie Scandiuzzi space at ACT Theatre builds with muscular assurance. Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train” is just the merger of sweaty realism and probing lyricism the American theater needs now. And Seattle needs a company like Azeotrope to tackle it.”
— Misha Berson, Seattle Times

“In staging Stephen Adly Guirgis’ 2000 prison drama, Azeotrope has knocked this production out of the park, swinging at rich and thorny material with explosive honesty and superb acting.Hours later, I’m still trembling, stomach clenched, mind scrambling to sort out the Möbius-like succession of ideas.”
— Margaret Friedman, Seattle Weekly

“Director Desdemona Chiang has put together a cast and production that at times blinds the audience with that reality but also keeps it safely behind those prison walls.”
— Jay Irwin, Broadwayworld.com

“Desdemona Chiang doesn’t try to impose a consistent tone but lets Guirgis’s language run riot in all its exuberant color and frenetic rhythms — neatly complemented by Christian “Lil Kriz” Beeber’s original music and Jay Weinland’s sound design. She also has a keen sense for the importance of physical movement as part of the play’s overall texture, from Lucius’s Jesus-powered calisthenics to the broken-spirited posture of Angel’s darkest moments. Thanks to the intimacy of ACT’s black box Eulalie Scandiuzzi Space, the actors’ gestures and facial expressions carry an almost operatic intensity.”
— Thomas May, crosscut.com