THE RICH YOUNG MAN

Some of us have to work at the weekend to make a living, can't afford an iced tea, and don't have a comfy chair to park our arse in. As for blessings - we count 'em. Ta.

Has another week gone by? Well, the weekend is upon us. What a great time to grab a cup of ice tea, comfy chair, and help us noobies get noticed by reading our work. If you are interested in this, please pick a book and let me know what you think. I would appreciate all comments and help . . . blessings, Pam

Has another week gone by? Well, the weekend is upon us. What a great time to grab a cup of ice tea, comfy chair, and help us noobies get noticed by reading our work. If you are interested in this, please pick a book and let me know what you think. I would appreciate all comments and help . . . blessings, Pam

The latest Mungbeing magazine features extracts from the play -
http://www.mungbeing.com/issue_30.html?page=25#2415

Michael,
I read the play straight through this afternoon, and it is a resounding, impeccable piece. LOVE it, fast, practical, and--my favorite quality--controversial. :) For me, the best theatre transcends entertainment. It makes a statement. It elicits reactions. It gets people thinking, talking, debating. Love it or hate it, a play must make an impact. This does. I wish I had a group of investors right now to show them this script (unfortunately, they are all temporarily in hiding thanks to the economy and the state of their investments).

Brava! I give you a standing ovation, and I really hope the day comes when I can be in the theatre and give this show a real standing ovation in a packed house.

Lizzi
(Dionysus)

just got the following reply by post yesterday from the Royal Court after their 8 week consideration of my play.

Dear Michael

The Rich Young Man
Thank you for sending us your play The Rich Young Man.

We were interested to read the script. It is a bold interrogative reworking of the betrayal of Jesus Christ by Judas Iscariot. The play’s central conceit is daring and original and you handle the large cast of interweaving characters skillfully. At the same time, we feel there is scope to invigorate the narrative by teasing out some of the more acutely resonant modern-day analogies even further. It was also felt that a more daring approach to form and idiom, might perhaps serve as a more dynamic vehicle for the charged and provocative subject matter.

As I’m sure you appreciate only a fraction of the plays sent here can be considered for development or production, and I’m afraid we have decided not to take this script further. However, we are pleased to have had an opportunity to read the script, and wish you success with your future writing.

Thank you for thinking of us.

Yours sincerely
Ruth Little
Literary Manager

(No return postage: script recycled.)

This is a translation of an article about the play which appeared in the Turkish newspaper 'Radikal' in 2006 -

RADIKAL IKI 16 April 2006 Sunday

A Different Easter Story

'The Rich Young Man', written and staged by Michael Dickinson, an English teacher living in Turkey, is on at the Maya Theatre. There's a different Jesus in this play.

Do you want to see a different story of the resurrection of Jesus this Easter? Resident in Turkey for twenty years, English teacher Michael Dickinson's 'The Rich Young Man', written by him for the stage, shows a very different Jesus from the one we know in the Bible. In fact, in the play, Jesus and his disciples think of nothing but goodness. But in Bethany, surrounded by a wealth of other messiahs, they attempt to find a way to be different by prophesies from the Bible. More precisely, of the apostles, it is Judas, who, in order to catch the public eye, encourages Jesus to stage false miracles.

Dickinson wrote the play twenty years ago, before he came to Turkey. It was even about to start at a pub theatre in London. The actors were found, the posters up. However, due to difficulties the play was cancelled.

"Then I got offered a job in Istanbul, and I came here. Whenever I told people the story of my play they said 'it's a good story, why don't you turn it into a book?' And I wrote the book of the play. It was published in Ireland in 1994."

The comments of the Irish critics fell one after another on the different points of the book - 'masterpiece', 'brave', 'cynical', 'controversial', and 'blasphemy'.

On Stage Again

Twenty years later, after working on a couple of film scenarios, Dickinson has prepared the story for the stage again. Playing at the Maya Theatre every weekend at 8.30 until the end of April, 'The Rich Young Man' speculates a new relationship between Jesus and Judas. In this new interpretation, despite Jesus' wishes, Judas does not betray Jesus.

"It was very important for me to stage my play at this time of the year. Because today is Easter. I mean, the day when Christians all over the world celebrate the resurrection of Jesus… But (laughing) you and I know that he wasn't really resurrected".

Dickinson seems excited about the connection between his twenty year old story and the release of the new 'lost Gospel'. (The 1700 year old Judas Gospel text was released to the public on 6th April. According to this version of the Bible, Jesus personally asks Judas to betray him.) Whatever, this is not the only claim the play tops. It lays a newly written record of the events of Christian history before us.

Obviously by accepting that the miracles were faked, the play destroys one of the most accepted foundations of the Bible, and some Istanbul Christians have taken exception.

"Some Christians in Istanbul have reacted. Not angry, so much as dismayed. How can we do this, especially with the current fuss about the Muhammed cartoons? If it is a bad thing to make fun of the prophet Muhammed, what right do you have to do this to Jesus? But we're not making fun of Jesus. You've seen the play. Jesus is a well-intentioned person."

Just at that moment we are joined by Argus Adakarasi, who plays Jesus in the play. Dickinson discovered him on Buyukada playing guitar outside Aya Yorgi monastery. "As soon as I saw him, I said to myself, 'This is my Jesus'" he says. Most of the other actors are teacher colleagues and Yeditepe students. This amateur and international cast carry Dickinson's play, which has lain so long on the shelf, at last to the stage."

MOTHER

I was thirteen when it happened. In Nazareth. But of course you know all that.

I was happy that morning when I went to the well, earlier than usual before anyone else was up and about. The day before I had been officially betrothed to Joseph the carpenter, a good, gentle man. I was looking forward to the marriage so I could escape from my mean bad tempered father and the back of his hand.

When I got to the well I was startled to see a figure sitting alone by the side, shining, glowing like gold. It was a Roman soldier, the rising sun reflecting on his helmet and breastplate. I'd never seen one so close up before. When I drew water he asked me for some and I gave him. He was friendly and handsome and his strange accent and sign language made me laugh. I tarried too long.

Suddenly without warning he picked me up and carried me into a little olive grove nearby. My heart beat wildly but I wasn't afraid. I liked the feeling of his strong arms round me. He laid me down and whispered things. It all happened so quickly. It hurt but I didn't cry out loud. I let him take me. He made me feel special. But when he had spent himself and lay slumped, I realized how late it had become. I jumped up and ran back home with the water. Luckily no one else had risen so I was unseen.

I never saw the soldier again. He was my special secret, and I remembered his kisses fondly, but within a few weeks I discovered that I was with child. What could I do to save myself? My father would have killed me! Or I'd be condemned by the elders to be stoned! I invented the most fantastic story to explain my condition. I went to Joseph and told him that an angel had appeared to me and announced that I was to bear the Son of God.
Miraculously, he believed me and we married earlier than planned, saving my life and reputation. No one ever knew or suspected the truth.

When Jesus was old enough to understand, Joseph told him of the angel that had announced his birth. He grew up believing he was different, destined one day to establish his Father's kingdom on earth. I never talked about it with him and he never pressed me with questions, but now I wish to God that I had told him the truth! Even if he had hated and spurned me, he would have been spared this vile cruel death!

And this is the message the modern-day Jesus would be spreading:


WORLD STRIKE 2012

If you agree that the abolition of money would be a fine solution to most of our problems, and that we could create a much better system where EVERYTHING - food and drink, clothing and housing, water, heating, education, health-care and entertainment - shall be FREE for EVERYONE - why not join the World-Wide Strike on the opening day of the Olympic Games in 2012?

The Strike will begin the moment the symbolic Olympic flame is lit - the signal for all who support the abolition of money to stop work and demand a new fair world of true freedom and justice.

WE WANT A MONEYLESS WORLD

This is a review of the play which appeared in the Turkish Daily News following the first performance in Istanbul - http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=39631



"Few figures have been subjected to as many wildly differing interpretations as has Jesus Christ: Jesus as peace loving hippie, Jesus as financially savvy capitalist, Jesus as original feminist, Jesus as husband and father -- modern-day pop culture iconography exhaustively represents the famed carpenter from Galilee.

Michael Dickinson, a veteran provocateur known for his controversial collages of eminent religious and political figures, presents Istanbul audiences with another version of the anointed one: Jesus as heartfelt charlatan, as duped about his own identity and origin as his followers are about his divine capabilities.

Dickinson, now in his mid-50s, had a Catholic upbringing but became disillusioned with Christianity in his late teens. Upon re-reading the Bible at a later age, however, he saw that “Jesus was a good guy.” “He doesn't need the miracles. I decided to remove them to see if the plot could stand miracle-free,” he said. What did he come up with? An entirely different Judas and a new role for Darius, the hero of the play. “This is a detective story of what might have occurred.”

"The Rich Young Man," a stage production of Dickinson's novel "The Lost Testament of Judas Iscariot," published in 1994, features the familiar New Testament characters: the long-suffering Mother Mary (with a previously unknown penchant for Roman soldiers), industrious Martha, bickering disciples and devoted Mary Magdalene, though much sassier and sensuous than you may remember her from Sunday school.

Dickinson, however, recasts the three pivotal characters, Jesus, Darius and Judas, in a completely unique light in this play that, in the modest words of the promotional flyer, “changed the world.”

While seeking to share his message of peace, love and freedom with mankind, Jesus has won a small following, but struggles to differentiate himself from the many other would-be messiahs that proclaim themselves to the masses every day. “Jesus wanted to establish the kingdom of heaven on earth -- not a pie in the sky idea. He tried to make earth a better place,” says Dickinson.

In this version of events, Judas, presumably out of his love for Jesus, seeks to elevate his master in the eyes of the local population through elaborately staged “miracles.” We learn that Judas gave Lazarus a potion to make him appear dead as he waited in his tomb for Christ to “resurrect” him; the infamous apostle blackmailed “blind” Bartimaeus to proclaim Christ healed him of an ocular affliction he never had in the first place. Judas schemes and organizes; Jesus reluctantly complies for the sake of attracting more listeners, yet chafes at the primarily miracle-seeking crowd his reputation now draws. “Miracles attract the wrong sort,” he bemoans.

As Jesus and company prepare to depart from Bethany for a triumphant Passover feast in Jerusalem (in spite of practical advice otherwise from the headstrong Mary Magdalene), a persistent stranger demands an audience with Jesus. The newcomer is Darius, the rich young man for whom Jesus had predicted it would be harder to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. Darius exclaims that he has renounced his wealth and incurred the wrath of his family to follow Jesus, who welcomes him into the group as they set off.

The Jerusalem visit turns into a disappointment for the disciples as they make do with chicken rather than lamb and face mockery from city residents, for whom messiahs seem to be a dime a dozen.

“As we were coming through the gates shouting our hosannas, this trader came up and asked what was going on. I told him the Messiah had come. ‘What, another one?' he exclaims. ‘That's the fifth we've seen today! May the best man win!'” James recounts to the group. John echoes disillusionment, “We're just another Passover distraction, and Jerusalem is full of them.”

This time it is Jesus rather than Judas who devises a grand scheme to turn up the heat on his message and boost his notoriety, both for the sake of his message and to hearten the disciples. Judas must betray Jesus to the Pharisees, thereby thrusting him into the spotlight as a candidate for the traditional Passover amnesty. Jesus, more confident than realistic, is certain the crowds will choose him, elevating him to the notoriety that he and his followers seek. Judas complies, but his troubled conscience compels him to confide first in Darius, leading to a tragic case of mistaken identity, with repercussions felt far beyond the small group in the olive grove.

Keeping up with the twists, turns and revelations requires unflagging attention from the audience. While the novice actors have to work hard in this dialogue-rich production, they succeed by and large in presenting the human side of the characters they portray -- particularly the pure-hearted Peter, exasperated John and scheming Judas.

The most convincing aspect of the production may be the physical appearance of Jesus and Darius. Jesus as played by Argus Adakarasi perfectly embodies Western preconceptions. The sparkling light eyes and firmly set jaw bespeak vision. This Jesus has just enough of a tan to convince us he spends time praying in the desert, yet his trimmed beard and flowing straw colored hair point to a leader moved by the innocence of little children and lost lambs. In his long white robe the overall image borders on campy.

While Jesus is prone to getting swept away with events, Darius, played by Eren Alperen, emanates steady peace and resolve. His arching brow frames pained eyes as the henchmen lead him away. Dark thick hair and beard set off his drawn features. If Darius tilted his head just so, it wouldn't be surprising to see his image flatten into an Orthodox icon of muted gold, or perhaps morph full-bodied onto a Catholic cross with downcast gaze and bleeding abdomen. How fitting for the ultimate sacrifice Dickinson's rich young man makes for his lord. ------ "

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=39631