| . | 05/03/2009
To Bury Caesar
By: Deirdre Donovan
Chris Dickerson’s one-man show To Bury Caesar may well be the darkest play in town. Its subject is John Wilkes Booth, the infamous actor who shot President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theater in Washington DC on Good Friday, April 14, 1865. Ford D’Aprix plays John Wilkes Booth in this intense work that offers us an up-close and personal look at the assassin on the evening of the assassination. The setting is the hotel room at Sixth and Pennsylvania Avenue, and according to the clock tower bell striking, it’s 8 o’clock sharp.
The show starts in darkness. We hear snatches of 4 patriotic hymns growing in volume, and then slowing fading out. There’s the spirited “Dixie,” “Bonnie Blue Flag,” “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and “The Union Forever.” All the songs seem to be competing against each other, as if in a symbolic tug-of-war between the Confederacy and the Union. This tension abruptly gives way to the triumphant male chorus in “The Union Forever.”
The lights go up on the figure of John Wilkes Booth (Ford D’Aprix), standing at a window, whiskey glass in hand, staring out at Pennsylvania Avenue. He intones the opening lines to Shakespeare’s Richard III: “Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this son of York.” Booth starts out eloquently, but his voice soon becomes ragged, and he breaks off into a fierce cough. He moves away from the window, walks over toward the writing desk, picks up a half-filled whiskey decanter, and pours himself a drink. His attention turns to a letter he has been composing to the editor of the National Intelligencer. He reads: “Though many will hate me for what I must do, I pray God some of my countrymen will understand.” Few will miss the import of these words. Indeed, he is attempting to justify his murder plot of Lincoln, which he will shortly execute at Ford’s Theater.
Naturally, much depends on the skill of the actor in this one-man play. Fortunately, Ford D’Aprix is up to the formidable feat of delivering the one-man show. He portrays Booth as a calculating, politically-aware actor. D’Aprix never lets us forget that we are eavesdropping on the man who killed President Abraham Lincoln, listening to the musings of his deranged mind shortly before he did the horrific deed.
This play is the theatrical equivalent of an Edgar Allan Poe short story, except that it is based on a true historical nightmare. The real-life Booth was determined not only to play the villain, but to be remembered in history for an unforgettable—and unforgivable--act. The play chillingly uncovers that as a boy Booth told his friends that he didn’t want to be remembered as a famous actor, but as somebody who has “done something that no man had done before.” What we see in this play is a reflection of the mature Booth, a multi-faceted portrait of the mad actor. In his criminal psyche, he saw the real world as his stage, where he played an honorable Brutus figure and Lincoln became the tyrant Caesar.
The toughest thing to confront in the play is the subject itself. This is an in-depth psychological study of Booth, not just a superficial outlining of his murder plot. We listen to Booth as he recounts his earliest acting roles (like Richmond in Richard III), his peak moments and disappointments as an actor, and how difficult it was for him to grow up in a prominent acting family. No, there’s nothing sympathetic in the character. So one must really go to this play prepared to confront the epitome of an obsessed and twisted human being.
Booth is portrayed as a handsome (He had matinee idol looks!), swashbuckling actor in this account. Ever competing with his father and brother Edwin, he was never content with his reviews. He voraciously hungered after popular adulation and critical acclaim. He adhered to a libidinous philosophy, believing that he needed sensuous life experiences to enable him to act with convincing passion on stage. In short, he never lacked for young women or invitations to exclusive social events.
What is this piece missing? Perhaps intellectual breathing space for the audience. We surely get a rich abundance of historical detail on Booth, but it’s hard to digest in the space of 2 hours. We learn about his childhood, his acting career, his political biases (He’s a Southerner with bone-deep bitterness about the Civil War), and his hatred of Lincoln. But the story could much benefit by trimming some speeches and scenes. It’s true that the frequent quoting from Shakespeare’s plays is right in character for Booth, but the Bard’s language sometimes overpowers the story with its poetic metaphors. Dickerson, who directs his own play, obviously has researched Booth’s life with meticulous care. But he has an extremely flamboyant character in Booth, and the play would be stronger if he followed the popular saying: less is more.
Still, there’s much to admire. William George McGarvey’s set is convincingly comfortable with telling historical details. It is a realistic rendering of opulent Victorian furniture, theatre memorabilia, and serious weapons. To wit: there’s the theatrical handbill of Our American Cousin propped up on a bureau, a Bowie knife and Navy Colt pistol (each arrogantly held at some point in Booth’s hand), and a silver-headed walking stick. On a postage stamp of a stage, McGarvey has succeeded in creating the look of a hotel room that Booth would likely have inhabited on that tragic evening. Scott Sherman’s sound design is also excellent, particularly the rousing prologue with its military war hymns. Incidentally, “Dixie” was Lincoln’s favorite song. And Sherman’s ingenious inclusion of this song in the prologue--and Booth’s reference to the song in the final scene of the play--give poignance and authenticity to the work.
This play is not for everyone. But history buffs should see this production for its probing portrait of Booth. D’Aprix is well-cast as Booth, and his acting is capable of sending shivers down your spine. In this Bicentennial Celebration year of Lincoln’s birth, To Bury Caesar clearly offers something different to theatergoers. This one-man show is a sobering reminder of the dark in the American past.
To Bury Caesar, written and directed by Chris Dickerson
Roy Arias Theatre Center, Times Square Arts Center, 300 W. 43rd Street, (Between 8th and 9th Avenue), 5th Floor.
April 16-May 24.
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday @ 8pm; Sunday @ 2pm and 7pm
Ticket Prices: $20, visit http://www.smarttix.com or tel. 212-868-4444.
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