Actor of stage and screen Maxwell Caulfield presents his one-man play, Pilate: The Lost Gospel, at the Alcazar Theatre in Carpinteria. Written by Michael Punter, Pilate: The Lost Gospel is set several years after Christ’s death. It follows the infamous Roman governor Pontius Pilate as he defends his administration in Judea to the high authorities in Rome. “I’ve played my share of baddies over the years,” says Caulfield, who, while best known to my generation as Rex Manning from Empire Records, has an impressive number of credits in low-budget sci-fi/horror films. “I usually get my just deserts,” he says. “I’ve died in every conceivable way, but this is different. You say ‘Pontius Pilate,’ and people start to hiss.”
Pilate: The Lost Gospel isn’t written with a religious point of view; instead, it tells Pilate’s story through the lens of a politician trying to maintain order in his province despite the threat of upheaval surrounding the holy man Jesus of Nazareth. “Pilate wasn’t just nailing people to the cross for the length and breadth of Judea,” says Caulfield. “He was a politician doing a delicate dance between Rome and the Sanhedrin, the Jewish religious council.” Ultimately, he says, the show is about a man in power who is wrestling with his conscience.
Stylistically, the show focuses on acting and emotional storytelling rather than extravagant sets or effects. “That’s the challenge of a one-man show,” says Caulfield. “You’re up there all alone, and you have to keep the ball in the air.” Caulfield has toured this show in the U.K., on the East Coast, in Los Angeles, and in Ojai. The Carpinteria production is the last before Caulfield takes the show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival next month. See Pilate: The Lost Gospel on July 23 at the Alcazar Theatre.
For more information, see thealcazar.org
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