“Like Beckett on speed or Coward on coke, The Bard on base or Davenant on dots, Butterworth bashes out some hard-hitting-no-nonsense-quipping dialogue in his masterpiece-glance at rural England. Johnny Rooster Byron strides half-magical about his caravan-glen residing over an assorted bunch of minions. The troupe gather to enjoy a May Day of pagan abandon. Yet darker forces threaten to penetrate the amphetamine haze and dislodge Byron and his legions. Kennet and Avon Council intend to raze Rooster and his dwelling by sunset, an unstable father-in-law wants revenge, and the loyalties of Byron’s crew are increasingly suspect…

The original production opened in 2009 at The Royal Court, having received rave reviews it transferred to the West End, it then hopped the pond to Broadway and then whooped back in for one triumphal last run at Apollo. Some big boots to fill. But fill them we will with a production that ramps up both the magic and the murkiness. Featuring a live-band, live chickens, dead pheasants, flares, axes, a rave scene which will confirm the fifth dimension, and a fantasy black-tie dog sequence based around Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, this is not one to be missed.”

THIS is the writeup ahead of Jerusalem’s 5-show run at the O’Reilly Theatre, Oxford, from the 5th to the 8th November. Tickets are onsale now.

Read previews from Cherwell, The Oxford Student and The Oxford Tab.