Jerusalem

Jez Butterworth’s hugely acclaimed, prize-winning play – a comic, contemporary vision of life in England’s green and pleasant land.

“The key British theatre work of the last decade.” Time Out .

“An Instant Modern Classic.” Telegraph.

‘My dad said he jumped buses. Horseboxes. Jumped an aqueduct once. He was gonna jump Stonehenge but the council put a stop to it.’

On St George’s Day, the morning of the local country fair, Johnny ‘Rooster’ Byron, local waster and Lord of Misrule, is a wanted man. The council officials want to serve him an eviction notice, his son wants to be taken to the fair, a vengeful father wants to give him a serious kicking, and a motley crew of mates wants his ample supply of drugs and alcohol.

Jerusalem premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in July 2009 in a production directed by Ian Rickson and starring Mark Rylance. It transferred to the Apollo Theatre in the West End in January 2010, and played on Broadway in 2011. It retuned to the Apollo Theatre in 2012 and again in 2022.

Jerusalem is also available in the collection Jez Butterworth Plays: Two.