by Stephen Adly Guirgis
directed by Kim Tobin-Lehl

September 6 - 29, 2018

Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train

Winner of the 2018 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Revival, JESUS HOPPED THE 'A' TRAIN tells the story of Angel Cruz, a bike messenger from New York City who is awaiting trial in Rikers Island prison for shooting the leader of a religious cult in the "ass". He is on his knees, alone and terrified, trying to say a prayer he no longer remembers to a God he has all but forgotten. Angel's court appointed attorney, Mary Hanrahan, is lucky if she can keep her client's names straight. His guards are indifferent. Worse, Angel is subject to repeated inmate brutality, landing him in protective custody, where he finds himself in the company of a charismatic serial killer named Lucius Jenkins, a born-again believer who will change the course of Angel's life forever.

  • Mateo Mpinduzi-Mott as Angel

    Joseph “Joe P” Palmore as Lucius

    Christy Watkins as Mary Jane

    Santry Rush as Valdez

    Orlando Arriaga as D’Amico

    Kendrick Brown, Dwayne Washington as Additional Inmate Voices

  • REVIEWS:

  • Stage Manager | Kalin Menzel

    Assistant Director | Dwayne Washington

    Set Design | Ryan McGettigan

    Lighting Design | Christina Giannelli

    Sound Design | Mike Mullins

    Costume Design | Macy Lyne

    Properties Master | Tina Montgomery

    Dialect Coach | Jim Johnson

    Board Operator | Bradley Jackson

    Carpenter | Drew Hoovler

    Stage Crew | Jeremiah Sanchez

  • Stephen Adly Guirgis has been a LAByrinth Company Member since 1994. His plays have been produced on five continents and throughout the United States. His play, The Little Flower Of East Orange, starring Ellen Burstyn, had an extended run at The Public in 2008. Other plays include, Our Lady Of 121st Street (10 best plays of 2003; Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Best Play Nominations), Jesus Hopped The ‘A’ Train (Edinburgh Festival Fringe First Award, Laurence Olivier Nomination for London’s Best New Play), and In Arabia, We’d All Be Kings (2007 LA Drama Critics Best Play, Best Writing Award). All four plays were originally produced by LAByrinth and directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman. The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot (10 best, Time Magazine & Entertainment Weekly) was produced by LAByrinth in collaboration with The Public in 2005 under the direction of Philip Seymour Hoffman, and recieved a critically acclaimed European premiere in London at the Almeida Theater under the direction of the Headlong Theater’s Rupert Goold. His plays are published by Dramatists Play Service as well as by Faber and Faber.

    His one act play, Dominica The Fat Ugly Ho, directed by Adam Rapp, was a part of the 2006 E.S.T. Marathon. Television writing credits include, NYPD Blue, The Sopranos, David Milch’s CBS drama Big Apple, and Shane Salerno’s NBC series UC: Undercover. Stephen was awarded a 2006 PEN/Laura Pels Award, a 2006 Whiting Award, and a 2004 TCG fellowship. He attended the 2004 Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab, and was named one of 2004’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film by Filmmaker Magazine. He is the recipient of new play commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club, Center Theater Group, and South Coast Repertory, and is a member of New Dramatists, MCC’s Playwright’s Coalition, New River Dramatists, and The Actor’s Studio Playwright/Directors Unit. He developed and directed Liza Colón-Zayas’ Sistah Supreme for Danny Hoch’s Hip Hop Theater Festival, and Marco Greco’s award-winning Behind The Counter With Mussolini in New York and Los Angeles.

    As an actor, he appeared in Guinea Pig Solo, produced by LAByrinth at The Public, and has leading roles in Todd Solondz’s Palindromes, Brett C. Leonard’s Jailbait opposite Michael Pitt, and Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret. Other film credits include, Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York and Adam Rapp’s Blackbird. A former Violence Prevention Specialist/H.I.V. educator, he has facilitated numerous workshops in New York City area prisons, schools, shelters, and hospitals.