Execution of
Justice
About Face Theatre
http://www.aboutfacetheatre.com
Having recently seen a documentary of the life and death of
Harvey Milk, I went into the theatre presumably knowing what the gist of About
Face’s Execution of Justice, a
theatre genre that some call “documentary theatre”, would be. But I reminded myself that this shouldn’t be
a problem, recalling The Laramie Project,
a play of the same theatre genre: I knew the events surrounding the tragic
death of Matthew Shepherd, but nonetheless found myself riveted in my seat by the
intense emotion drawn from the revealing story-telling of the tragic events. Unfortunately I was not rewarded with these
same emotions by Execution of Justice. I was expecting much more, especially considering
the hardiness of the play’s creative team - playwright Emily Mann (Tony-nominated
and Obie Award winner) and Chicago’s own über-talented director, Gary Griffin
(whose credits include many highly-regarded award-winning productions,
including most-recently Broadway’s Tony Award-winning The Color Purple).
At the time of the assassinations of Mayor George Moscone
and the country’s first openly-gay politician, Harvey Milk,
Having said all this, this reworking of the 1986 Broadway play unfortunately does not succeed in harnessing the city’s fomenting anger and antagonism - the desperation of the conservatives losing their grip of the soul of the city. The play is hardened and cold, much of the fervor sucked out of it; replaced with a series of witnesses taking the stand at the court case and a lumbering voice of the judge, reciting rules to the jurors. Most of the testimonies and characters are true-to-life, gathered through the playwright’s meticulous research and interviews. But some jarring characters are thrown into the tepid soup - a cartoonish drag queen nun, as well as doctors testifying for the defense that are made into idiotic caricatures.
The actual performances range from adequate to excellent. Unquestionably the best performance comes from Steve Key, portraying Milk’s alleged killer, Dan White. There is a brilliant scene where Dan White, after turning himself in at the police station, admits to killing the two public officials. His monologue comes directly from the taped admission of guilt for the double-homicide. Steve Key draws out every bit of angst-laden humanity from his character, so much so that I found myself, like the trial’s jurors, empathizing with this all-American boy, partly understanding how the jury might have reached such an unjust verdict. (it should be noted that Key looks startlingly similar to the real Dan White. It’s quite amazing, and superb casting). There is also an impressive performance by Freddie Sulit, playing Milk’s friend and assistant.
There are problems with the show’s design. The main set is stoic, a meshed metal floor, lit from below. A sunken desk and chair sit in the middle of the stage, mostly inhabited throughout the trial by killer Dan White. The main prop, a Hollywood-Square-inspired bank of nine television screens, showing actual clips from this tragedy, resides behind the metal-grid table. The historic clips that are flashed on the screens are quite effective, bringing to life this historic tragedy. But these clips are dismayingly interspersed with faux television interviews. It would be hard to imagine a more hokey choice, totally cheapening the effects of the multi-media. These interviews would be more effective if done live on the stage. In addition, this re-working of the play includes a curious score played by two live percussionists.
In its original production, Execution of Justice was successful, having a run on Broadway in
1986. About Face Theatre offers the
first major production of the work in 20 years.
Unfortunately, this new vision of the play, even with the genius of
director Gary Griffin and a fine group of actors from a quality theatre
company, does not pay off.
Rating: Okay (2 stars)
Reviewed by Scotty Zacher