Jerusalem (NHB Modern Plays)

A comic, contemporary vision of life in England’s green and pleasant land. Winner of the Evening Standard Award for Best Play, and the Critics Circle and Whatsonstage.com Awards for Best New Play.

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 2009, directed by Ian Rickson and starring Mark Rylance in an astonishing performance as Johnny Byron. It transferred to the West End in 2010.

'Unarguably one of the best dramas of the twenty-first century' Guardian

'Tender, touching, and blessed with both a ribald humour and a haunting sense of the mystery of things... one of the must-see events of the summer' Telegraph

'Jez Butterworth's gorgeous, expansive new play keeps coming at its audience in unpredictable gusts, rolling from comic to furious, from winsome to bawdy' Observer

'Storming... restores one's faith in the power of theatre' Independent

'Show of the year' Time Out