The Royal Court of Jerusalem: A Story of the Great War

Amazon Customer: The content of the book is ugly.Not a book I would read again

United Kingdom on Oct 25, 2023

Nicola Terrenato: Hailed by some as the greatest play of the 21th century, it almost lives up to the hype. Acutely modern and yet also timeless, it cannot fail to make you think. Seeing Mark Rylance in it makes it unforgettable.

United States on Sep 03, 2022

Bardhyl Ramadani: Sehr schnell immer wieder

Germany on Oct 03, 2021

Molly: I had heard a lot about Jerusalem and wondered what the fuss was about. After picking up a copy, it deserves every ounce of praise it has received. It is absolutely gorgeous! The story and characters leap off the page! If you are involved in theater, you need to read this. It should be in the theater cannon alongside Williams and Shakespeare. Gorgeous.

United States on Nov 22, 2016

Amazon Customer: Far easier read than I expected. Superb characters and a very visual setting. Treads a narrow line between romantic outsider and drug dealing pervert.

United Kingdom on Nov 20, 2016

Victoria Ward: an absolutely amazing play.
i am currently studying this as an AS literature student and it is possibly the best play that we've had the fortune to study- the imagery and reference to mythology and the slightly dark humour is lovely, and is brilliant to re-enact in class. even some of my friends who hate english as a subject are enjoying this play, as i think it appeals to most people. the bad language may play some part in that, though. i would definitely reccomend this play, whatever your reason to buy it is! lessons spent studying this play are some of the best, purely because of the interesting subject matter.

United Kingdom on Mar 07, 2015

Tim Kevan: I live in North Devon so had to read Jez Butterworth's big hit Jerusalem before I was finally fortunate enough to see it in London last year. I'm glad I did as the play is so beautifully written that the characters flew off the page. So much so that only an actor as brilliant as Mark Rylance could have taken the written words to an even higher level. This play is a song to our rural way of life. It's funny, tragic, honest, direct and utterly mesmerising. It harks back to folk tales and myths and yet is completely modern. The only way I can really describe the experience of both reading and then seeing the play is perhaps by imagining that it gives the sort of wonder that audiences must have felt when they first stumbled upon Shakespeare's plays over 400 years ago. This is truly the best play I have ever read, the best play I have seen and for what it's worth to this book review, Mark Rylance's performance was the best performance I have witnessed.

United Kingdom on Jan 03, 2013

David Wineberg: Jerusalem is about many things, from the hard partying gang that hangs about Rooster's rickety Airstream trailer, to the sadness of the discrimination against Romanys - Gitanes - Gypsies - of which he turns out to be one. Condemned to making money as a daredevil in his youth and a blood donor in middle age, Rooster is determined to live large - while the local town does its utmost to boot him out. In between, we are treated to the magic of central England, the fairies and giants and mystical beings that inhabit the woods and glens that for centuries have provided our legends. From Robin Hood to hobbits to Shrek, this setting is as fertile as they come, and author Jez Butterworth milks it to its fullest.

The first two acts are riotously funny, setting us up for the dismal fall, which is obvious from the beginning - this can't last. And it doesn't. But along the way we are treated to Rooster's intelligence, his understanding of the way things work, and his role in them. It's a remarkable story of coping and survival in a hostile environment, buried in a haze of gin and marijuana, as anybody in his situation might descend to. To that point, Jerusalem is highly believable. This...

United States on Apr 13, 2011

Robert B. Murray: It's a pleasure to be able to read new plays while they debut in London'w West End or prior to
their arrival on Broadway. Jez Butterworth's new play, a hit at The Royal Court (where they
deliver the published script as a Program !) arrived at my doorstep prior to its opening on Broadway. This allows me become acquainted with the play and whets my appetite to see it
in New York this Spring. A great service to one whose hearing is dimishing with age and a great
boon to a serious playgoer!

United States on Apr 04, 2011

Kindle Customer: Ribald best characterizes the high jinks in "Jerusalem," playwright Jazz Butterworth's outlandish poke at contemporary life in the merry modern, English countryside.

In "Jerusalem" everything, it seems, gets reduced to something hilariously sexual in a rude, irreverent way. Ribald is a Middle English word and seeing a production of "Jerusalem" must be similar to what the 15th century English townsfolk experienced listening to "The Wife of Bath's Prologue" and other of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales." Chaucer and Butterworth both offer a lusty, outlandish and sometimes over-the-top version of life as lived in rural England, old and new.

Here's how main character Johnny "Rooster" Byron recounts the fantastical story of his virgin conception, which is the result of an encounter involving his roving father Hector and a lass not his mother plus Hector's jealous wife, also not Johnny's mother:

The deed occurs when Hector's wife "pulls a pistol, draws a bead and shoots the wayward lad (Hector) slam-bang in the love bells. The bullet passes clean through his scrotum bounces off the bedpost, zings out the window, down the high street to the crossroads, where it hits the...

United States on Feb 04, 2011