[4][5] Jerusalem has a cast of around 14: Johnny "Rooster" Byron – opinionated, eccentric, ex-daredevil and teller of fantastically improbable stories, he has a young son whom he rarely sees.
Davey – young teenage abattoir worker who is best friends with Lee, and visits Rooster regularly for free drugs and alcohol.
Wesley – the local pub landlord, he is involved in the festivities for St George's Day and has been roped into doing Morris Dancing.
[7][8] The play makes frequent allusions to William Blake's lyrics to the song "Jerusalem", from which its title is derived.
It was directed by Ian Rickson and starred Mark Rylance as Johnny, Mackenzie Crook as Ginger, Alan David as the Professor, Tom Brooke as Lee, Danny Kirrane as Davey, Gerard Horan as Wesley and Barry Sloane as Troy Whitworth, Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Phaedra, Lucy Montgomery as Dawn, Dan Poole as Danny and Lennie Harvey as Marky.
It received very positive reviews all round:[9] There are several of the Royal Court's trademark "in your face" shock tactics and an exceptionally high swear word count even by the exacting standards of the address, this rich three-hour play is also tender, touching, and blessed with both a ribald humour and a haunting sense of the mystery of things.
Imagine King Arthur reincarnated as a troll and you have something of the quality he brings to the debased pastoral he grittily, comically and finally mournfully inhabits.
— The Times Rylance is magnificent in a hugely demanding role, and restores one's faith in the power of theatre to make a really beautiful noise and on a scale that is both epic and potentially popular.
The problem with the term 'local personality,' however, is that it is all too often a polite euphemism for a crushing bore, and three hours in Rooster's company does prove to be something of an endurance test."
[12] Mark Rylance reprises the role of Rooster, with Mackenzie Crook and most of the original Royal Court cast also transferring.
[13] The full cast for the production was announced on 17 February 2011, with John Gallagher, Jr., Max Baker, Geraldine Hughes, Richard Short, Molly Ranson, and James Riordan joining the show.
[15] After its Broadway engagement, Jerusalem returned to the West End in London, playing at the Apollo from 8 October 2011 until 14 January 2012.
[25] Jerusalem returned to the Apollo in the West End in London, in a run from 16 April 2022 until 6 August 2022, with Mark Rylance, Mackenzie Crook, Gerard Horan, Barry Sloane and Alan David reprising their roles as Johnny "Rooster" Byron, Ginger, Wesley, Troy Whitworth and The Professor respectively.
[26] In 2014 an outdoor production created by Common Players with Northcott Theatre, reimagined as "New Jerusalem", toured around Devon and Somerset.
Jez Butterworth sent a brief filmed message of support to the cast[28] In Summer 2018 a production of Jerusalem was staged at The Watermill Theatre, near Newbury, with Jasper Britton as Rooster.
"[39] In 2019, Dominic Cavendish wrote an article for The Telegraph titled "The greatest British play of the century: why Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem is a masterpiece".