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A cage-rattling, hard truth-telling drama concerning Christianity, the justice system and diminishing options in an American prison, "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train" opens the 2004-05 season for Pure Theatre on Thursday.

Written by Stephen Adly Guirgis, "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train" was a hit in New York in 2000 and was nominated for the Olivier Award in London for Best New Play in 2002.

Rodney Lee Rogers, the play's director and co founder of Pure Theatre, says of his decision to present the play, "Guirgis truly taps into how we struggle to place our understanding and desire of the divine into a very flawed, cold and all-too human system."

"The play presents this struggle in one of the most difficult of human endeavors: the judicial system, where we attempt to take on the role of God in order to judge, control and regulate human behavior.

"The protagonist Angel Cruz makes one mistake, but it's big enough to land him in the heart of Rikers Island prison," Rogers says. "While there, Angel navigates a torturous, brutally funny path through manipulators, tormentors and would-be guardian angels, some cleverly disguised. Ultimately, Angel must make a choice that will either lead him to glorious freedom, or into endless slavery, not only slavery of the body, but also of the soul.

"This dynamic and visceral theater experience combines the immediacy of a street fight with the spiritual grandeur of a classic," he says. The New York Times called Guirgis "the best playwright in North America under 40," and has called the play "a fire-breathing, intense portrait of lives behind bars; a powerful story of hard-won redemption." In an interview with the British Theatre Guide, Guirgis describes "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train" as "a cheering tale of the success of an underdog who doesn't know when he is beaten." Angel Cruz, a poor Puerto Rican boy, isn't sure why he's in jail after shooting the Rev. Kim, a born-again Christian who has brainwashed Cruz' best friend.

The playwright explains that he was partly inspired to write the script because he once had a friend who joined a cult and the friend's brother and father tried to kidnap and de-program him. Guirgis also was in on the attempted kidnap.

"My friend is still in the cult today," says Guirgis. "But I had to let go of this and had to start facing the beginning of my own adult life. And I had lots of anger!" He tells the British Theatre Guide that it was this anger, together with a reconsideration of his attitude toward God as a lapsed Catholic, that led him to write the play. Guirgis also counts his experiences as a violence prevention specialist and a stint working in a prison as valuable to his background material for the script. Guirgis credits the backing of LAByrinth Theatre under John Gould Rubin with the play's appearance in London. Also, the fact that Madonna was a big fan didn't hurt the play's popularity. In Pure Theatre's presentation of "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train," Lucius Jenkins, a card-carrying Christian serial killer, will be played by actor Felix Justice, a native of Florence, who has toured the United States with actor Danny Glover performing the speeches of Martin Luther King. Rogers met Justice through Paula McClane, his agent here in Charleston, and invited the professional actor, now based in San Francisco, to perform with Pure Theatre.

Taking the leading role of Angel Cruz in the playis Eric Douchette, withSharon Graci as Angel's lawyer, Mary Jane Hanrahan. Others in the cast include Linus David Cate as Valdez, a tough prison guard, and R.W. Smith as Charlie D'Amico, another prison guard who is more lenient toward Angel and Lucius.